


Spotlight

by AntarcticBird



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-09 19:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4361681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntarcticBird/pseuds/AntarcticBird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small theater, an amazing internship and the opportunity of a lifetime. When things slowly start falling apart, clearly all that's missing is a complete stranger who just wants to make art and help people!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is my contribution to this year's Klaine Reversebang, for which I was paired with the amazing [buckeyegrrl](http://buckeyegrrl.tumblr.com). Her [art](http://41.media.tumblr.com/e18838938058d28665868f018a8ad300/tumblr_inline_nrn21zevnP1qi9w8q_500.jpg) was the inspiration for this!

They're singing their way through the kids' favorite songs from their favorite musicals while Elliott plays the guitar for them, sitting cross-legged toward the back of the stage and transitioning almost seamlessly from one song to the next. Kurt is leading them in a silly little dance, several kids clinging to his arms and legs while more are circling him with their hands waving wildly; Kurt is pretty sure they're pretending to be mermaids. But it could be lions. Sometimes those are difficult to tell apart.

It's the way they end most of their 'rehearsals:' the kids screaming song titles at Elliott who can play everything, and all of them running around in a giant tangle of tiny humans, pretending they're coming up with their own dances. 

They do prepare actual plays to put on for the parents twice or three times a year. But mostly this kind of turmoil and pandemonium is what the club is: a place for the kids to have fun with music, to explore slipping into different roles, and to meet up and play with their friends.

It's Kurt's favorite thing he gets to do during his internship with the Spotlight Theater Company, helping out with the kids' club. And he actually loves most of the things he gets to do here. But this is just so much fun, and Elliott who is barely older than he is, is just so _nice_. They're becoming friends, and so far his life post-college is shaping up to be pretty amazing. Even if he's interning instead of acting, running around backstage and singing with children instead of being on stage and showing off what he can do. But at least he's getting some kind of real experience working in the field he's chosen for himself.

Spotlight Theater is not a big company and most of their actors are contracted to run small amateur clubs or workshops on the side of acting in their regular shows. Kurt kind of loves the idea, can definitely see the appeal of it. If he ever gets taken on full time here, he just hopes he'll find something to contribute that's as much fun as kids' club.

Maybe he'll start his own club. Maybe some of the kids would like to make their own costumes, he could always take a slightly different approach to what Elliott is already offering.

He's helping kids into their jackets while parents are trickling in to pick them up, and in the midst of all that chaos, catches Elliott's eye across the stage and offers him a smile, which is readily returned.

“Hey, Kurt?” Elliott asks over the head of Sonya, a bubbly little seven-year old who is still singing a rather off-key rendition of _Part of Your World_.

“Yeah?” He helps another kid into her jacket smiles at her before he sends her off to her mom with a pat on the head.

“Do you have a minute once we're done here? I'd like to talk to you for a minute.”

Kurt nods. “Sure.” He has to stick around late to help with the reorganizing of some of the props shelves anyway.

He's gathering scattered props and bits of costumes off the stage when Elliott comes over to him, smiling excitedly with his guitar in hand, leaning down to retrieve the guitar case from underneath a pile of colorful feather boas.

“So, Kurt. I had something I wanted to talk to you about, and I'm kind of hoping you can help me out here.”

Kurt shakes out a wizard's cloak, hums in response. “Sounds slightly terrifying. You're not firing me, are you?”

Elliott laughs. “I don't have the authority to do that. Gunther would have my head if I tried. And also, you're kind of awesome and the kids love you, and if it were up to me I think you should stick around for as long as you want to.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean it. Anyway,” he stands up straight, takes a deep breath. “You know about the upcoming charity week this summer?”

Kurt nods. It's a month before the end of his internship, he's kind of hoping to have secured a permanent position here by then, but - “Yeah. I'm excited about it.”

“Good.” Elliott clears his throat. “So you know how I've been talking to April and she's actually giving me the chance to put on an entire show using Starchild -”

“Hey, that's great!” Kurt smiles at him, bounces a little on the heels of his feet. “I'm happy for you and I cannot wait to see it!”

“And I will definitely need your help with a lot of it,” Elliott promises. “Including you coming out for drinks with us tonight so you can build up my ego while Dani tries convincing me that something will go horribly, horribly wrong.”

“Consider it done,” Kurt promises, laughing.

“But the reason I wanted to talk to you,” Elliott continues,” is that we're actually going to have a lot of the amateur groups put on performances of their own, and mostly whoever is in charge of the group is in charge of the event, or for most of the adult groups they have committees in charge. We can't do that for the kids, obviously,” Elliott says.

Kurt frowns. “Okay...”

“And, the thing is, I can't do it because my own show is going to take a lot of effort, we still have to write some of the music and my Starchild costume could use a few updates – but it's such a great opportunity I can't pass it up,” Elliott explains.

“Obviously,” Kurt agrees. “Does that mean the kids won't get to perform? Can't we – put the parents in charge or something?”

Elliott raises both eyebrows at him, amused. “Have you met some of those parents? It would end in a blood bath.”

Kurt shudders. “Some of them are a bit … yeah.”

“So I was thinking – and don't get too excited yet, we have to clear it with Gunther and April first, but I was going to suggest _you_ to run the event. If you're feeling up to it, it is a lot of responsibility, you'd be in charge of the entire performance and event planning and you'd have to direct too. Do you think -”

“Oh my god,” Kurt breathes, and his face feels too hot, excitement bubbling up in his chest; he slaps a hand over his mouth to keep the squeal in. “Yes!”

“Nothing is decided yet, I can't promise you anything -”

“I don't care, just – yes! If they're okay with it then yes, I'll do it, I'd _love_ to do it, I have so many ideas already oh my god -”

Elliott laughs, drapes an arm around his shoulders to pull him into a quick little side hug. “I was hoping that you'd say that!”

Kurt can't stop grinning, hugs Elliott back enthusiastically, and he does have so many ideas already, oh god, those kids are going to impress _everyone_...

It doesn't matter that he technically doesn't have the job yet. Just to be trusted enough to be considered for it by someone who's not only a friend but someone he deeply respects … it means a lot to him. A _lot_.


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine is sitting on a bench in the park just enjoying his slow Saturday morning. It's a beautiful early summer's day and he's starting to think about what he is going to do with his summer once everyone goes on vacation – most of his piano students are probably going to be away for the summer so maybe he should go away too. He could always visit Cooper in Los Angeles. Or take a trip back to Ohio, see what his old friends are up to, spend some quality time with his mom. He hasn't seen her in way too long. He misses her.

Leaning back and blinking up against the sun, he takes a deep breath; everything smells of summer and early morning and there's the wonderful scent of baking drifting over from the bakery at the edge of the park, mixed together with the scent of coffee from the people who pass him just at that very moment with their paper cups full of steaming hot coffee.

He loves summer. He loves early mornings when the day is still full of possibility. It's usually the best time for him to get some work done; he just feels more... _creative_ , with the entire day still stretched out in front of him like a beautiful gift waiting to be unwrapped.

He reaches into his bag and pulls out his notepad; might as well turn all of this energy and inspiration to a new verse or two for the song he's been working on all week.

They are silly little side projects, his songs. He likes playing around with them, coming up with nice little tunes and turning them into actual arrangements whenever he has a little time to sit down at his piano. It's just … music. He loves it so much. He always wanted to be a singer, but somehow over the past year he's become quite content and actually, honestly happy teaching his piano students instead. He likes it. He enjoys it. And if he has his song-writing on the side just for fun, even if no one will ever see or hear any of his songs, well. Everyone needs a hobby, and sometimes he likes visiting open-mic nights on weekends. He usually ends up playing covers of other people's songs, but maybe one day...

He's busy doodling little birds in the margins, lost in thought, so it takes him a while at first to notice that he's not alone on the bench anymore.

He looks up tentatively – there are always people in the park with him, but usually it's mostly joggers or people walking their dogs at this hour. He knows, because he's been visiting this bench a lot on Saturday mornings. He's never had company here before.

Next to him is a guy.

And Blaine doesn't want to be rude, prides himself so much on being polite and nice and … he can't look away, hand stilled, hovering over the notepad with the pencil in a loose grip.

The guy is...

He looks like he's had one hell of a night, his expensive-looking clothes creased and his face pale, drawn, a look on his face so drained it makes Blaine's overly sympathetic heart ache just seeing it, doesn't matter that he doesn't even know this guy. He just looks … so sad, leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees, like he carries the entire weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Um, excuse me,” Blaine says before he can stop himself.

The stranger looks up, startled. “Huh?”

Blaine just stares for a moment longer, opening and closing his mouth, because he hadn't actually thought this far ahead, has no idea what he wants to say now. “Uh,” he provides eloquently. “Just -”

“Oh, I'm sorry, were you waiting for someone?” the stranger says. “I can go sit somewhere else, I'm sorry, I didn't even -”

“No,” Blaine hurries to interrupt, thinking. “I was just – you're – I swear I'm not crazy,” he says. “But, uh, you looked – sad, and I – just wanted to know – if there's anything I can do to … um. Help?” He kicks himself mentally, squeezes his eyes closed for a second. “Sorry. This is probably super weird.”

The stranger laughs, but not unkindly. “A little. But thank you. You know … for noticing. But unless you have a magical device that slows down time or that will let me travel back in time to a few weeks ago … well.” He shrugs. “I'm afraid you can't help me. Thanks for the offer, though! I really do appreciate it!” He smiles and Blaine puts down his notepad.

“That sounds … seriously not good.”

The stranger shrugs. “It isn't. But really, believe me, I didn't mean to interrupt your -” he nods at his notepad. “Whatever it was you were doing. Sorry.”

“Oh.” Blaine glances briefly down at his half-written song, shrugs. “No big deal. It wasn't important.” He pauses, decides he might as well keep talking. “I'm Blaine, by the way!”

The stranger tilts his head at him and gives him a long, appraising look. “And you're sure that you're not a crazy person who is going to follow me home and stalk me if I give you any indication at all that I might _maybe_ be interested in potentially talking to you?”

Blaine grins, raises both hands to shoulder level. “I'm completely harmless. I swear. I just had a _lot_ of coffee this morning, combined with really way too much sugar. More than is good for me, probably.”

“Well,” the stranger says, sighs. “It's not like anything you do to me could actually make my life much worse at this point so … Hi. I'm Kurt.” He offers him a hand, and Blaine, a little dazed for just a second, takes it.

“Kurt,” he repeats, beams at him. “It is nice to meet you!”

“It is nice to meet you too, Blaine,” Kurt answers indulgently. “Nice and yes, I admit it, just a little bit weird.”

“So,” Blaine says, gives him a reassuring smile. “Do you want to talk about … whatever it is?”

Kurt sighs. “You really don't have to -”

“Hey,” Blaine interrupts. “Talking helps sometimes! Doesn't it?”

“Even talking to a stranger?”

Blaine nods earnestly. “ _Especially_ talking to a stranger,” he decides. “Because whatever it is, telling me will have absolutely no consequences of any kind for you, right? I can't judge you and I can't even say anything pointless and hurtful like 'I told you so' because I most definitely didn't, seeing as we don't even know each other.”

Kurt tilts his head at him. “You make a very good point.”

“I know.”

“I am still undecided, if I'm being perfectly honest.”

“Understandable. I'm not quite sure why I even talked to you, I don't actually do this, like … ever.”

“I'm not sure if that makes this less or maybe even more creepy.” Kurt sighs. “You know what, screw it. I really need to get this off my chest and since it's not like my roommate Santana will be very sympathetic...”

“Roommates often aren't. I think it's some kind of unwritten rule.”

“Seems that way. Anyway – I just kind of … oh god.” Kurt groans, hides his face behind his hands. “I don't even know where to start, it's all such a horrible, horrible _mess_ , and I'm going to be fired from an _internship_ , can people get fired from internships? Is that a thing that happens to the rest of the world too? And I can forget about them offering me an actual job and I _really liked it there too_ -”

“Liked it where?” Blaine asks, in the hopes of getting a little more information out of Kurt by asking specific questions. Kurt is cute, but that's not the entire reason he's talking to him, he just genuinely wants to help.

“Do you know the Spotlight Theater Company?” Kurt asks.

Blaine feels his eyes widen, breath hitching in his throat. “Um. Only from the _five million times_ I have seen their plays, oh my _god_ , don't tell me you _work_ for them?”

Kurt sighs, lifts his shoulders in defeat. “ _Did_ work for them, I guess,” he says plaintively.

“What happened?”

He shakes his head, looks tired. “I screwed up something that could have been a really great opportunity and now my career is over before it even began.”

“I'm sure it's not that bad, I'm sure we can -”

“You know,” Kurt says, “you graduate from NYADA, with all those hopes and dreams and an actual good education, and you know that most people just getting out of schools don't snag up their dream jobs right away, but -”

“Oh my god, you went to NYADA?”

“- you think that if you're one of the ones who actually do, you're pretty much set. And yes, I did! Graduated last year! Do you know the school?”

Blaine gasps. “Do I know it! I almost auditioned for it some years ago!”

“Why didn't you?”

He shrugs. “Got scared, I guess. I went to NYU instead.”

“It actually took me two attempts to get in myself,” Kurt says, grimaces.

“Well, but you _did_ get in,” Blaine reminds him. “And then you got to work for Spotlight Theater -”

“Yeah, that may be a thing of the past though.”

“What happened?”

Kurt lets out a long breath, slumps backwards on the bench. “So, have you heard about the Arts in Schools charity week?”

Blaine nods. “Of course! Absolutely! It's such a great idea with arts programs being cut left and right across the country, and I actually already have tickets to like four different plays that week, I -”

“Well, I thought it was a really good idea too,” Kurt interrupts him. “And I was determined to help any way I could, I was so excited about it.”

“Well, it is a really great thing.”

“When I was told they had no one to organize the kids' show I didn't even need to think about it, I knew I had to do it. I mean, I've been helping out with the kids' club since my first week there and I love those kids, I wanted them to get their spotlight too, and also -” He breaks off, shrugs.

Blaine smiles at him. “And also, it's a really great opportunity for an intern looking for a way to stick around permanently?”

Kurt laughs, rubs a hand over his tired face. “Pretty much. Yeah.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“No, I guess not.” He sighs. “Except when everything goes really, really, spectacularly _wrong_.”

“With the event?”

Kurt shrugs. “Yeah, just – There is this guy. He's … well, he's not an intern, not exactly. He's been there a while but he doesn't have a permanent contract. He's just coming in for specific projects, whenever they need him. And I know he wants to be on board full time as badly as I do.”

“Well,” Blaine says, “It's Spotlight. Who wouldn't?”

“Precisely.” Kurt rolls his shoulders, smooths his hands over his thighs to flatten the wrinkles in his pants. “He wasn't thrilled when I got to run the kids' event. Even though he's never even worked with the kids before, he doesn't even _know_ them -”

“Well then clearly you were the better choice!”

“He didn't see it that way. And what's more, he started … just getting in the way, interfering, sabotaging -”

“Why?”

Kurt shrugs. “It's just sort of what he does? And, I mean, when he unscrewed a fuse so we had no light during rehearsal, I still took that as a challenge. But when he told the director I was showing up drunk to work, it stopped being funny.”

Blaine gasps. “He did what?”

“I know, right?” Kurt throws up both hands in frustration. “And it's completely ridiculous too, I don't even take _cold medicine_. I think the last time I got drunk was my second year of college and it was an accident, I thought the punch was alcohol free.”

“That's seriously uncool, going to the director with an accusation like that,” Blaine agrees. “I mean, especially if it's not even true.”

“It's not the worst thing he did,” Kurt says. “And luckily the director believed me and I have my friend Elliott at the theater who vouched for me. But still … that was a shitty thing to do. Still not the worst he did.”

“So that's not even the reason you are sitting here next to me way too early in the morning?”

Kurt looks off into the distance and shakes his head slowly. “The selling argument for giving the project to me and not him was that I could promise them a real Broadway star to perform with the kids. Not to steal the show from them, just someone to rehearse with them a few times and come out for a couple songs during the performance, it would have been great for the kids and it would have guaranteed us a sold-out show.”

Blaine nods. “Someone you know from NYADA?”

Kurt laughs, shakes his head. “High school, actually. She didn't finish NYADA. Didn't need to,” he adds.

“Who -”

“Have you heard of Rachel Berry?”

Blaine swallows. “You went to high school with Rachel Berry?”

Kurt nods. “Sure did.”

“ _The_ Rachel Berry whose face has been up all over Times Square on and off for the past two years or so?”

“The very same,” Kurt confirms. “She used to be my roommate before she got rich and famous, actually.”

“...Huh,” is all Blaine can think of to say. Because. Well. He's seen her shows. He's seen her interviews. He owns her album. He's kind of dreamed of having her sing one of his songs maybe some day...

“And it wasn't a problem to get her on board,” Kurt says. “I mean, we haven't been hanging out a lot those past few years but I still have her private phone number and we do meet up for lunch occasionally. I asked her and she immediately said yes, she was actually looking forward to it.”

“What happened?” Blaine asks.

Kurt shrugs. “Sebastian went through my phone and got her number. Apparently he called her house, got her husband on the line, and pretended to be me. I don't know exactly what he said to him, but it must have been bad since she won't talk to me anymore, she won't take my calls, and all I got last night was a text telling me to mind my own business and that it might be best if I found someone else for the show. Which is in less than two weeks.”

“Oh my god,” Blaine breathes.

Kurt takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly. “Yeah. It's difficult enough keeping the show together anyway and now I don't have Rachel and I can't even change it to a 'surprise celebrity guest' last minute because I don't exactly know anyone, much less anyone who could do this on such short notice, and seriously, my director is going to kill me. Or fire me. I don't know which would be worse. And on top of that … well, she was my friend, you know? If I ever find out what that little weasel said to her...” He shrugs, deflates a little.

Blaine thinks about it. “Can't you … I don't know, show up at her house and explain? I mean -”

“I texted her non-stop since I found out what he's done, she won't listen!” Kurt groans. “I'm so screwed!”

Blaine sits back on the bench and watches his new friend and doesn't really know what to say. “I'm sure we can fix this somehow.”

“Uh, no, we can't. Trust me. It's impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible.”

“Yes. _This_ is.”

Blaine bites his lip, then carefully bumps their shoulders together. “Come on,” he says gently. “I'll buy you breakfast.”

Kurt looks at him skeptically. “Why?”

Blaine lifts his shoulders. “Because you look like you could use a cup of coffee and some waffles. And also because I might be able to help you come up with a solution. You never know. We can at least brainstorm together.”

Kurt's face just grows more suspicious, eyes squinting. “Why are you being so helpful? You don't even know me. Don't you have a job or something to get to?”

Blaine shakes his head. “I'm a piano teacher. My students are probably all asleep at this fine hour.”

“Oh.”

“Come on, let me buy you a coffee? And some pancakes? Or bacon and eggs. Whatever you like. I could use the company, and also I really do believe that we can save your job.”

“So, the way I see it,” Kurt sighs, “There are two options here.”

“Which are?” Blaine asks, smiling.

“You're either a psychopath who is going to poison my waffles, or I am actually asleep on the subway and dreaming this,” Kurt says. 

“So...” He hesitates. “Is that a no to breakfast?”

Kurt sighs again, holds his eyes for a while, then laughs. “Okay, okay. Whatever. Breakfast sounds good. But I pay for myself!”

“We'll see about that,” Blaine says, grinning at him.

**

He's tired. No, he's _exhausted_. He's been up all night trying to fix everything that's gone wrong and he hasn't been able to come up with a viable solution – it's all just such a mess. It started falling apart the minute he took up the project, but he's nothing if not stubborn – the problem is that obviously Sebastian is stubborn too, and on top of that does not seem to have any kind of moral compass. Who sabotages a kids' show? There is simply no excuse for what he's done.

Now he walks through the mostly empty park on this early Saturday morning next to this stranger he's just met, and, he thinks, it is very much possible that over all the stress and all the trouble he has finally lost his mind.

Blaine seems nice, for a guy he met ten minutes ago and knows nothing about other than that he's a piano teacher and apparently an early riser and that he has a very cute smile. That's not really a lot to know about someone. Especially since a lot of important information is still missing. Like whether or not Blaine is a serial killer or clinically insane or has any weird hobbies like bird watching or taxidermy. 

But then, it's only breakfast. He can do breakfast. He would have had to get a cup of coffee and something to eat anyway, and if he's being quite honest, he could use the company and he hasn't really dared to call Elliott yet – he doesn't want to have to admit to him that he still hasn't found a way to fix the show.

“So, Blaine,” Kurt starts as they make their way around the bend in the path by the duck pond and toward the café at the edge of the park. “You're a piano teacher who also loves the theater?”

Blaine turns his head to meet his eyes, grins widely. “I _love_ the theater.”

Kurt nods. If he's going to have pancakes with him, he's at least going to get to know him a little. “That might be because you've never worked in one, though. It gets pretty insane.”

Blaine laughs. “Judging from your story, I do believe you, yes. But I've always been fascinated by the stage. I was in my high school's glee club. I used to have plans to perform when I grew up. Just like you, apparently.”

“Well, I'm only behind the scenes, for now,” Kurt points out. “Though, I won't even have that much for much longer, from the looks of it,” he adds, sighs heavily. “It's really too bad. This was a wonderful opportunity. I couldn't believe it when I got the internship, much less when it actually went so _well_ – I guess I probably should have known. It was all just too good to be true from the very beginning.”

“Hey!” Blaine nudges their shoulders together as they walk. “It's not over yet!”

“Blaine, I've been up all night trying to come up with a solution. I've got nothing. What I need is nothing short of a miracle at this point.”

“Or some coffee and pancakes and someone to brainstorm with,” Blaine insists.

Kurt huffs out a breath, getting angry at the way Blaine is making so light of his problems. He doesn't appreciate a perfect stranger downplaying the way his life is crumbling and falling apart all around him. “I really don't think that you understand the gravity of the situation. Do you think if there was a way, _any_ way, to fix this that I wouldn't have done so already?”

“Of course you would have, if it were that easy,” Blaine assures him. “I wasn't implying anything.”

Kurt breathes deep, rolls his shoulders, tells himself to relax. Blaine's opinion doesn't matter. “Okay.”

“But I don't want you to lose your job.”

“It's just an internship.”

“Well, you shouldn't lose that either.”

“You don't even know me,” Kurt points out. “Why do you even care?”

Blaine shrugs, hands in his pockets. “It's early on a Saturday and I have nothing better to do with my day?”

Kurt can't help himself, he has to laugh at that, feels something loosen and unwind deep inside and suddenly he can breathe better. “All right,” he says. “That's as good a reason as any, I guess.”

Blaine laughs with him, lowers his eyes to the path in front of them. “I just like to help, Kurt. And I really do love Spotlight Theater. Those kids should have their performance. I wasn't kidding when I said I've been to that theater a lot – I still can't quite believe I'm going to have breakfast with someone who works there.”

“Ah.” Kurt rolls his eyes at him, grins teasingly. “This is a groupie thing.”

“Am I that transparent?” Blaine puts a hand over his heart, shoots him a crooked grin .”And here I was thinking I was being subtle.”

Kurt shoves him lightly, grins back. Maybe it's the fatigue or the fact that he's talking to someone who's actually nice and helpful for the first time in days, but he _likes_ Blaine. This is an unexpected turn of events in every sense. Maybe it's insane; it's completely possible that he's finally lost his mind for good. But the idea of sitting down to breakfast and talking to Blaine doesn't sound completely hideous, and considering that he doesn't even spill his worries and problems to his friends, he thinks there's a good possibility that he's making a mistake. It's just that he doesn't care.

The small café is almost empty this early on a weekend morning, the jingling of the bell above the door disrupting the almost quaint silence of the cozy little place at the edge of the park.

Blaine stops just past the entrance, turns to Kurt with a questioning look. “Take out or sit down?”

Kurt thinks about it – they could go back to the park, but there's something about the smell of coffee and freshly baked pastries in the shop that instantly calms his nerves.

“Let's stay,” he decides, and Blaine smiles, nods almost shyly.

“All right.”

They walk up to the counter together to order their breakfast and Kurt decides that he needs to get pancakes after all, together with the biggest nonfat mocha they have on the menu. Blaine orders waffles and a medium drip and pays so quickly once their orders are set on the counter that Kurt doesn't even have a chance to reach for his wallet. He frowns at Blaine.

“I thought I told you I can pay for myself?”

Blaine rolls his eyes at him, grins. “And I thought I told you that I was inviting you.”

Kurt wants to argue, opens his mouth to select his words, but Blaine quickly holds up a placating hand, shaking his head quickly.

“And I promise you that that's all it is, okay? I don't expect anything in return, I'm not an asshole like that. Okay? It's just … coffee, Kurt. It's just coffee. I had a good month. I can afford it.”

“You don't even know me,” Kurt repeats himself lamely. “Why are you doing this?”

“You look like you've had a really rough night,” Blaine points out. “I want to help.”

Kurt shakes his head, wants to ask more questions, can't quite shake this feeling of unease that comes with a completely unexpected free breakfast bought for him by a weirdly helpful stranger. But Blaine looks so sincere, so worried that he's overstepped, so completely un-threatening, Kurt – feels the rest of the fight drain out of him, feels himself deflate a little.

“Are you always this nice?”

Blaine looks at him with a crease between his brows for a moment longer before his face smooths into a sunny smile. “I try to be. You think I'm nice?”

“Most musicians I know are complete divas. You're a refreshing change.” Kurt smiles back at him. “I like it.”

“Well.” Blaine shrugs, picks up his coffee. “I just want to make art and help people.”

Kurt laughs, picks up his own breakfast to follow Blaine to a small table for two in the corner of the café.

Once they're settled, Kurt attacks his breakfast with a ferocity he'd probably be ashamed of if he were less tired – but now that they're sitting and he has that coffee and those syrupy pancakes so inviting right in front of him, he can finally feel just how hungry he really is. He hasn't eaten anything since his early dinner last night and he's been up brainstorming, pacing the backstage area of the small theater all night. He feels famished.

Fortunately, Blaine doesn't insist on making more small talk while there's food on their plates, he simply turns to his own waffles, eating quietly until Kurt uses his last piece of pancake to mop up all the syrup on the plate, pops it into his mouth with a satisfied sigh before leaning back in his chair and folding his hands across his full stomach. He already feels a lot more human than he did just a few minutes ago.

Blaine finishes his waffles and looks up at him, smiling his friendly smile. “Feel any better?”

Kurt nods, just a tad embarrassed about the enthusiastic way he practically inhaled his breakfast. Lowering his eyes to the table top, he reaches out to wrap his hands around his coffee cup, savoring the warmth seeping into his skin. “Yes. Thank you.”

“I've been thinking,” Blaine says, leaning back too, his smile still fixed on Kurt's face.

Kurt lifts his eyes to him, raises one expectant eyebrow. “Oh?”

Blaine nods. “The way I see it, your biggest problem is the celebrity guest, right?”

“I guess so.” Kurt sighs heavily. “It was my selling argument for getting the gig in the first place. Rachel was such a safe bet, I was sure she was going to help me out. I couldn't have expected -”

“Of course you couldn't have expected that,” Blaine says. “What that guy did is completely insane.”

“Yeah. It really kind of is. Thanks.”

“It's just that I might be able to help you out with this specific problem. Hence the breakfast invitation. You know. If it's for one of my favorite theaters...”

Kurt grins, shakes his head at him. “Related to anyone famous? Or dating a Broadway actor? Because at this point I'm fairly sure that nothing short of family ties or sexual favors could get someone to sign up for a week-long event with just two week's notice.”

Blaine laughs. “It's the first one. Well. He's not famous. Only, like, on his way there, if you believe him. But he has friends. And maybe -”

“Wait, hold on.” Kurt holds up a hand, eyes widening. “You _do_ know someone?”

“Uh, yeah.” Blaine takes a sip of his coffee, puts down his cup again before he answers. “You've probably not heard of him. Cooper Anderson?”

Kurt gasps. “From the commercial? And that hospital show? He plays that male nurse.”

Blaine blushes, lowering his eyes. “You know him.”

“I watch a lot of late night TV when I can't sleep.”

“Yeah, well. That's my brother.”

Kurt swallows, feeling the tiniest flicker of hope deep in his chest. Cooper Anderson isn't a superstar. But he's well-known. He definitely counts as a sort of celebrity. He can also sing and he's easy on the eyes - “This might actually work,” Kurt admits.

Blaine's face lights up. “Really? Because I can call him right now!” He checks his watch, winces. “Well, I can call him in about three hours once he's awake. But I can absolutely ask him.”

“Yeah, but -” Kurt draws patterns on the Formica table top with the tip of his index finger, shrugs. “Why would you do that? I still don't understand -”

“Kurt,” Blaine says, leaning forward a little, eyes softly amused. “I just like to help. That's all. And if you can maybe get me a few free tickets to this season's shows in return, I wouldn't say no to that either.”

Kurt sighs, nods. It's not as if he can afford to fight this. He fully expects to never hear from Blaine again once they say goodbye after breakfast, but on the off chance that this is actually going to work out, he's going to play along. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

He lifts his shoulders, grins helplessly. “It's the best idea I've heard yet! If you're offering to ask him, I'm hardly going to say no to that.”

Blaine grins back happily. “Okay.”

“Now I just need to catch up on weeks of planning that Sebastian sabotaged and we'll be okay.”

“Well.” Blaine blinks at him over the rim of his coffee cup, calm and steady in a way that soothes Kurt's frayed nerves. “Tell me everything and we'll go from there.”

Kurt shrugs, picks up his cup which is empty. “First, I'm getting another one,” he tells Blaine. “Do you want me to get you one too?”

Blaine looks pleased. “I could use another one. Thanks. I'll have a -”

“Medium drip?”

Blaine raises his impressive eyebrows at Kurt. “You already know my coffee order?”

Kurt laughs as he gets up from his chair, the exhaustion of the night spent worrying sitting heavy in his bones, but not all-consuming anymore. “I pay attention, Blaine.”


	3. Chapter 3

It's after ten in the morning by the time Kurt gets home and he feels as if he's sleepwalking by now. He's been up for way more than twenty-four hours, and not even the buckets of coffee he's consumed with Blaine can keep him awake much longer – he doesn't even take the time to shower, simply sheds his clothes on his way through the empty apartment, throws them over the back of his desk chair, and collapses face-down onto his bed, not without quickly setting the alarm on his night stand. The place is quiet, which means Santana has either gone out or is still asleep.

His skin is humming with exhaustion and he feels cold and achy, barely manages to get his bare legs under the covers before the rest of his strength leaves him and he falls asleep in bright daylight, sprawled across his mattress in nothing but his boxer briefs and his watch still on his wrist.

He wakes up just past noon when his alarm chirps loudly and needs a minute to orient himself – he feels groggy and sluggish and his cheek hurts where he's been lying on his watch; he's tangled in the sheets and suddenly feeling too warm, his body buzzing with the weird sensitivity that usually accompanies a mid-day sleep.

Slowly, he rolls over onto his back, unsticking his cheek from the wristband of his watch, knowing it'll take some time until the imprint of it fades from his skin. He keeps his eyes closed, lets his arms fall over his head, moves his legs to kick the sheets down enough to get a bit of cool air on his overheated, sweaty skin.

It's the weekend, but he works at a theater – and even with everything in disarray, he has to help Elliott run a workshop for five to seven-year old kids this afternoon and then he has to help out backstage all night, mostly carrying people's clipboards and making sure that everyone else can do their jobs smoothly, but it's a stepping stone on his way to where he wants to be. He's okay playing the errand boy as long as there's hope of rising above that eventually.

Well, he thinks, opening his eyes and heaving a heavy sigh. At least it was supposed to be a stepping stone. Now, he just isn't so sure anymore.

He knows he's not gotten nearly enough sleep and that usually makes him grumpy and irritable, so he'll have to be careful to be on his best behavior once he gets to the theater. He does not need to offend anyone on top of all the ways he has already screwed up his chances with these people.

Making his tired muscles move he rolls himself off the bed, gets himself upright with some effort. Maybe a shower will make him feel more human after this hell of a night.

Picking up his phone from the floor next to his bed – it must have fallen out of his pocket when he shed his clothes earlier – he unlocks the screen to check that there haven't been any more catastrophes of potentially apocalyptic proportions while he was completely passed out for the last two hours.

But there's nothing bad waiting for him – Carole has texted him a picture of his dad walking their new puppy in the park near the gym and Elliott has sent him a message asking to be there ten minutes earlier so he can help him roll in the heavy piano.

And there's a text from the new number in his phone, Blaine's number. He opens it, and it still feels so weird to him, this entire situation. He doesn't know this guy. He doesn't know what his angle is. What does it say about him, that he's so desperate he accepts a stranger's help with something that could make or break his entire career? Even if that stranger has an oddly trustworthy and dangerously attractive smile.

_I'm meeting my brother for coffee this afternoon_ , Blaine has texted. _I'm going to talk to him then! I hope you're getting some rest. I'll let you know what he said tonight._

Kurt bites his lip, stares down at the text for way too long. _Why are you doing this?_ he wants to ask. But he's asked that already, several times at the coffee shop. So instead he texts: _Thank you! I have to go to work now, but I'll check in later. And thanks again for the coffee and the pancakes._

He doesn't wait for a response, just drops his phone to the mattress and walks into the tiny bathroom of his shoebox apartment, dropping his underwear as he waits for the water to heat up.

Trusting in a stranger's help is a total long shot and might be bordering on absolutely fucking insane. But, he thinks, as he steps under the hot spray of the shower and turns his face up, closing his eyes against the water, it's not as if he has much of a choice anymore. Not if he wants to save this job that he loves so much.

**

He's jittery and nervous all through the afternoon and he knows that Elliott can tell. Elliott can always tell. That's the trouble with good friends who know you; there isn't a whole lot you can successfully slip past them.

But he does his best to ignore his feelings of restlessness and worry – he's been working around them for days even before it became apparent that he'd lost his headlining star who was going to guarantee ticket sales and donations.

He knows, intellectually, that he can pull this show off with fewer songs and without a big name star to perform with the kids. They're superstars in their own ways and their parents will all be there to see them – but that's not going to be a full house. It's still going to be a solid, fun little show. But it's not going to be a spectacle the way he had planned it. The way he had _promised_ those kids. When it comes down to it, he feels like he's let them down.

It's not about fame, being an actor. That's not what he'd been hoping to teach them. It's not about some abstract concept of celebrity. But he has told his kids that they'll get to meet a real star. He's made them believe that for the three afternoons they'd be performing, they'd be sharing the spotlight with someone famous, that they could get a little taste of that glittering and shiny world of stardom. He's made them believe that all their hard work would pay off in the end. He's made them hope for something incredible, he's made them think that they could feel famous and like a part of something bigger for a few days, and he doesn't want to tell them that it's not coming true. He doesn't want to let them down. He can't disappoint them.

And he doesn't expect Cooper Anderson to actually agree to perform with them – he believes even less that a guy like that will use his connections to get them someone else to share the stage with his kids, certainly not for some random stranger his brother met on a park bench. It sounds completely absurd. But … right now, it's the only hope he still has left, so he chooses to cling to it for the afternoon and night at least, just to get through this work day until he can go home and get some actual sleep.

It's midnight by the time he gets out of the theater. There's office work and errands and he has to help out with preparations for the ensemble show, and he's usually the last to leave these days, still feeling more than ever that he has to prove himself. And even though several people invite him to go out to the bar down the block with them, he declines. Usually he'd jump at any chance to make more friends at this place he loves so dearly, but he can feel himself swaying on his feet and he knows that what he really needs right now is not to practice his networking skills. What he needs to do is to go home, hope with everything he's got that Santana doesn't have her girlfriend-of-the-week over, and just sleep for a solid eight hours at least.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to be back at the theater before noon the next day. He plans to set the alarm for no earlier than ten.

Turning his phone back on, he sees he has a new text from Blaine: _Coffee w/my brother went well, lunch tomorrow to talk it over?_

He stops in his tracks on the sidewalk, apologizing absentmindedly when one of the actors bumps into him. Blaine has _actually_ talked to his brother. And apparently has good news. Who would have thought? This is unexpected, but he can't ignore the tiny flicker of hope deep inside his chest.

The time stamp shows him that Blaine's text came through five hours ago, and he feels bad for not checking his phone all afternoon. It's been a busy day, and honestly, it's not like he had really expected anything from his weirdly enthusiastic new acquaintance.

_Sorry, I was at work_ , he texts, frowns as he tries to figure out what to say next. 

Blaine, obviously still awake, texts back first.

_I figured, don't worry. I know where you work, after all. :)_

Kurt has to laugh at that, he's too tired not to. _I have work tomorrow too, but I could slip out for about an hour before the show?_

_Just tell me when_ , Blaine writes back.

Kurt bites his lip, fingers hovering over the screen for a moment as he goes over his schedule for the following day.

_5:30-ish? I should be able to leave then._

Blaine's response comes quickly. _Sounds perfect. We can have an early dinner._

Kurt smiles to himself, texts back, _There's a little bistro down the block from the theater._

_I know it_ , Blaine writes back. _I'll see you there!_

_Great, thank you so much_ , Kurt texts him, and Blaine responds with a simple _:)_

Kurt pockets his phone again and starts walking towards the subway. He knows this could all be nothing and not worth getting excited over. But he's going to have to get dinner tomorrow either way. Might as well have it with Blaine and see what he has to say.

And if there is actually a chance that he can save this show, he'll take it. Otherwise, he knows he's going to have to approach Gunther and April sooner rather than later to talk this over with them. And he's going to have to talk to Elliott, who trusted him with his precious group in the first place. He'd much prefer to approach all of them with some good news, if he has any say in it at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Blaine arrives at the little bistro at 5:15 p.m. and stops on the sidewalk outside, unsure of whether to go in and sit by himself until Kurt shows up or walk around the block one more time so he won't appear hopelessly overeager by showing up this ridiculously early.

He's not usually this early but it's a slow day and he'd been bored – and also, he is kind of excited about all of this. He wasn't lying when he said he loves Spotlight – he's been quite a few times and he's been looking forward to their charity week for a while. The prospect of getting to help out – it almost makes him feel like it's part of his life too – all the excitement and busyness and buzzing creative energy he always expected to be part of theater life.

It must have been the most crazy kind of luck that made Kurt choose that particular bench early on Saturday morning.

Cooper had been very excited when Blaine had mentioned the opportunity to him – his brother is pretty good with kids, probably because he's mostly still one himself, and also, Cooper Anderson will take any and every opportunity to be on stage in front of an audience. And Blaine knows he's been looking to branch out, he's been getting nothing but commercials and small parts in smaller stage productions and that recurring gig on that god-awful hospital soap where he doesn't do much more than smile and kiss his way through the cast (male and female) on camera.

Spotlight is not the biggest deal in this city, but for off-Broadway houses it's pretty well known. It's one of the most well-loved theaters amongst theater lovers and their productions are known for their quality and creativity and energy. Of course Cooper has heard of it. And of course he's said yes immediately – it's not a lifetime commitment, but it's a good reference to have on the resume.

Realizing he's still just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, Blaine takes a breath and pulls open the door – he has his notebook with him. Might as well get some work done on his songs while he waits for his new friend.

He orders a coffee but no food yet – he'll wait until Kurt gets here. Anything else would be rude. There's an empty table for two in the far corner, far from the bathroom door and with a good view of the big storefront window so they can watch the street outside. Years in this city and Blaine hasn't grown tired of watching it yet. He just loves it here.

It's just a few minutes after half past five when the door opens and Blaine looks up to see Kurt enter, and he can't do anything against that wide smile that steals across his face immediately. Kurt looks a lot less tired than he did on Saturday morning, and his clothes aren't creased, his hair sitting perfectly and his eyes, awake, flitting across the tiny bistro until he spots Blaine in his corner.

Blaine waves at him happily and Kurt's answering smile flickers hesitant and shy but genuinely pleased.

He starts crossing the room toward Blaine's table, weaving his way around tables and other patrons while Blaine closes his notebook, shoves his pens and song fragments back into his book bag to clear the table for their early dinner.

“Hi,” Kurt says, sliding into the chair opposite him.

“Hi,” Blaine greets back, leaning his forearms on the table and smiling widely. “I'm glad you could make it today.”

Kurt nods. “You said you had good news?”

Blaine bounces a little in his seat. “I have! I hope. Well, I mean, yes, Cooper is definitely interested in working with you, if you'd be -”

“Oh my god, seriously?” Kurt looks at him across the table, eyes wide and surprised. “He is?”

Blaine laughs. “Clearly you have never met my brother. Offer him a chance to perform in front of an audience for five minutes and you'll never get rid of him again.”

“He's going to do it?” Kurt asks, still just blinking at Blaine. “I thought he was a TV actor.”

Blaine shrugs, suddenly unsure. “Well, he is. But not – exclusively. He'll do pretty much anything to perform, it really wasn't difficult to persuade him – you are okay with him working with the kids, right? Because you said -”

“Yes, no, of course,” Kurt rushes out, laughing a breathy laugh. “Oh my god, Blaine – of _course_ I am okay with that, I'm _more_ than okay with that.”

“I just thought,” Blaine says, “because he's not exactly an A-list celebrity, you know. But if you're cool with it, he'd be happy to do it.”

Kurt waves a hand at him. “Blaine, this is perfect. And I'm sure the mothers especially will be excited if they've seen him on his hospital show -”

“Are people actually watching that?”

Kurt fixes him with a tight-lipped stare. “It is the perfect distraction when you can't sleep!”

“Oh my god, _you_ watch it?”

“...Occasionally. You don't? Your brother is on it!”

Blaine shrugs. “I watch his episodes. He usually makes sure of that.”

“Well, anyway.” Kurt shakes his head, grins a little. “I think I need a coffee. And possibly a really large slice of pizza.” He turns in his chair to get up, looks at Blaine. “Want me to get you anything too? It's my treat. Since you're saving my life and everything.”

Blaine bites his lip, pleased and a little embarrassed. All he's done is talk to his brother. “Just – coffee. Thank you.”

Kurt tilts his head at him. “They make amazing tomato and basil pizza here. Their lasagna is really good too. I can't speak for their sandwiches, personally, but my friend Elliott says their turkey sandwich is the best in the city, and you haven't lived before you haven't tried their raspberry cheesecake -”

“I – okay.” Blaine laughs, rubs the back of his neck with one hand. “Pizza actually sounds good. But I can get it, you've been working all day, I can -” He gets half out of his chair, but Kurt is up before him, gently pressing him back down.

“Blaine,” he says gently, smiling down at him. “Let me buy you a slice of pizza and a soda. I want to.”

He pauses, looks up at him, prepares to argue, then eventually deflates under his firm yet gentle stare, laughs. “Fine. Okay. Thank you, Kurt!”

“It's my pleasure,” Kurt assures him, and, grabbing his wallet, walks off in the direction of the counter.

Blaine leans back in his chair, smiles for a minute before he grabs his phone out of his book bag, sends off a quick text to Cooper.

_I talked to him, you got the gig!_

Cooper texts back an assortment of smiley faces and Blaine puts his phone down on the table, laughs softly and happily, and waits for Kurt to return to their table.

**

On Monday, Kurt has the rare day off and he knows he has to use it to get his show back on track – he has a coffee date set up with Blaine and Cooper Anderson so they can go over details and figure out how this is all going to work. It's not a complicated performance, but Cooper will have to get to know the children – if Rachel had done the show, she would have joined them for a few rehearsals starting this very week. He hopes Cooper won't have a problem with this and that he has the time in his schedule to make it work. It's all very short notice, he is well aware of this. It's kind of the root of the entire problem.

His body and sleeping rhythm is set to theater hours so getting up early is always a struggle, but he still manages to be up and in the kitchen by 7:30, hunched over the breakfast bar with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him, blinking into the light of the morning and trying to get his brain booted up so he can tackle all the tasks he has lined up for today.

Because before coffee at three this afternoon, at a little place Blaine had suggested because Cooper likes it, he still has to go over the entire program for their performance and see which songs can stay and which ones have to go now that he has Cooper instead of Rachel doing them. He has to talk to Elliott and Gunther and April about the changes, he has to get the rewritten programs reprinted and then there are the many little tasks he would have had on his plate anyway – costumes, sets, advertising and the like. Many of these things have suffered from Sebastian's little pranks too – rolls of fabric that have gone missing, a newspaper ad with the wrong times in it last week, and an inexplicable email sent to the parents of his kids canceling an entire afternoon of painting sets a few days ago.

Sebastian isn't owning up to any of it, but really, it's not that difficult to trace back emails and Kurt can't think of anyone else who has an interest in sabotaging him. It wouldn't even be so bad, he thinks, if Sebastian would just stop pretending that nothing is ever his fault. How can the guy seriously be upset about not getting more responsibility, when he manages to even screw things up that he had nothing to do with in the first place?

“You look dead,” a voice says from directly behind him and he jolts upright, realizes he's been sitting slumped over with his eyes closed, about to fall back asleep.

“Santana.” He rubs his tired eyes, tries to smooth his insane bed hair just a little. Not that she is looking much better. Her hair looks as if she's put her fingers in a light socket and her make up from the day before is smeared across her face, giving her a slight clownish appearance. She looks a mix between comical and terrifying. “What happened to you?”

She groans and slumps against his side heavily, resting her head on his shoulder. “I am actually dead.”

“Long night?”

She sighs and nods, her crazy hair tickling his cheek. “Dani dragged me off to this party with her friends and I hate them all. But not as much as I hate tequila.”

“When did you get home?”

“Like – three hours ago?”

“Then why on earth are you up already?”

She makes a pitiful whining noise. “Because I agreed to pick up a shift at the diner this morning. Which seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh god. My head is going to explode. I want to die. Can you be a good friend and just put me out of my misery? I'll even hand you the knife.”

“There's still coffee in the pot,” he informs her, gently nudging her toward the coffee maker. “Have some. And have that last taco in the fridge. I'm just going to take a quick shower and then the bathroom's all yours.”

“You're too perky this morning,” she complains grumpily as she shuffles across the tiny kitchen, grabbing a mug from the shelf above the counter.

He feels tired and irritable, but looking at her in her current state he has to admit that yes, it could obviously be a lot worse. Like. A _lot_ worse. Ignoring her crappy mood he makes his way to the bathroom, already going over everything he absolutely needs to get done today in his head.

**

Blaine remembers why he usually makes sure not to get coffee with his brother more than once every one or two weeks as they walk side by side up to the café where Kurt is waiting for them. They are already ten minutes late and yet Cooper insists on stopping every few steps to point dramatically or to stretch and shake out his arms and shoulders as if he's actually preparing for a performance instead of having a cup of coffee with Blaine's new friend.

“Cooper, we need to be there, like, right _now_ , could you maybe just -” Blaine sighs as Cooper stops yet again to stretch his arms out and then adjust his hair in the reflection of a shop window.

“Blaine,” his brother responds, rolling his eyes at him in the reflection of the window. “Being fashionably late is kind of expected of any respectable actor. It can't seem as if I just had the entire afternoon off to -”

“The gig is already yours, I told you that,” Blaine reminds him impatiently. “He doesn't care about any of this. We just need to get there, he probably doesn't have all afternoon either, come on -” He takes his brother's arm and tugs, feels eight years old again, almost laughing at the fact that their dynamic has changed so little since that time they were at the carnival together and Blaine had to drag his brother everywhere to keep him from spending the entire afternoon flirting with the girl in the ticket booth.

Cooper stumbles after him, not really resisting. “You're a good brother,” he tells Blaine. “Once I win my first serious award you'll be mentioned in the acceptance speech for sure!”

“I'm touched,” Blaine mumbles, impatient as he yanks open the door of the café, lets his eyes sweep the room – and there's Kurt, meeting his eyes across the room and smiling, and Blaine feels his stomach swoop happily at the sight of him, can't hold back his grin as he waves. “There he is,” he tells Cooper.

His brother gives him an interesting and unreadable sort of look, nods. “I see.”

Blaine ignores him in favor of weaving his way through the tables to get to Kurt, confident that his brother will follow him.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” Kurt replies, and Blaine stands awkwardly for a moment, just staring – he doesn't know what it is, but there's just something about Kurt. He can't quite put his finger on it. But it makes him want to keep looking for as long as he's allowed.

“Oh,” he finally pulls himself out of his thoughts, looks behind himself to find Cooper, pulls him forward to stand beside him. “This is Cooper. My brother.”

Kurt gets up from his chair to extend a hand, his smile polite and inviting. “Nice to meet you! I'm Kurt. Blaine tells me you've agreed to be our new headlining star?”

Cooper shakes Kurt's hand enthusiastically, putting on his best show smile. “Absolutely. I'm excited to be working with you, Kurt. Spotlight Theater is one of my favorites. And my brother speaks highly of you.”

Blaine isn't sure, but he could swear Kurt blushes a little. “Does he.”

“I'm going to get myself a cup of coffee,” Blaine announces quickly. “Anyone want anything?”

Cooper claps his shoulder. “Chai latte for me, thanks. And Kurt...?”

“I can get my own -” Kurt starts, but Cooper waves a hand through the air. “Let Blaine get it,” he says as he sits down. “I'll pay him back later and write it off as a business meal.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says, and looks up at Blaine. “In that case -”

“Nonfat mocha,” Blaine says. “A large one.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow at him. “You remember.”

“Of course I do,” Blaine tells him and, he has no idea what comes over him, _winks_. Kurt looks amused and he quickly turns away, walking off toward the counter. What the hell was that all about? Sometimes he just doesn't get himself.

He gets a Chai latte for his brother and a nonfat mocha for his friend and a medium drip for himself, and then leans back against the counter while he waits for his order to be finished. Across the café he can see Kurt and Cooper talking animatedly – well, Cooper is talking animatedly, pointing a lot with his eyes wide and sparkling. Kurt is mostly watching him with one corner of his mouth twitching, but his head tilted attentively toward him.

Blaine knows he has always had a thing for beautiful boys with kind eyes. But there is something about Kurt. Something else. Something special. He can't name it yet. But it touches something deep inside of him. Maybe once they've saved this beautiful boy's show, he'll get a chance to analyze it. For now, he'll bring him coffee and do his best to help.


	5. Chapter 5

On Tuesday they have rehearsal with the kids at four. Cooper has agreed to join them and Kurt gets to the theater at ten that morning to start preparing. There is a lot to be done. A lot that needs to be changed. Most of all he has to take care of the music, making sure he has considered all the necessary key changes now that they have Cooper instead of Rachel singing with them. That's the biggest challenge for the day.

Blaine meets him out front, already there when Kurt arrives – he doesn't really get why Blaine agreed to help with this, to go out of his way to meet him here and work with him. But he appreciates the help nonetheless. He can't afford to turn it down. Even if he doesn't understand. He's just never met someone who was prepared to help him out so readily.

But there Blaine is, handsome as ever, book bag slung across his shoulder and waiting for him. Kurt waves in greeting, feels his mood lift at the sight of Blaine's happy face – Blaine who is so serious has a smile that lights up the world. Kurt knows himself well enough to admit that he's already way too fond of it.

He leads Blaine through the theater to the tiny upstairs dressing room he and Elliott have turned into a makeshift office for the duration of the weeks leading up to charity week. It's crammed full of both their stuff: Starchild's designs and sheet music and half-finished costumes side by side with Kurt's notes and sheet music and some props and costumes that were meant to offer inspiration. Kids' paintings are taped to the wall next to Elliott's steampunk art, making the small room the most colorful and interesting space Kurt has ever set foot in. He loves it.

“Wow,” Blaine says, stepping inside after him, eyes wide. “This is awesome.”

“I know,” Kurt says, putting his bag and keys down on the double desk in the center of the room. “It's the best place to work.”

“You can't be in here and not be creative,” Blaine agrees.

Kurt nods, motions for him take a seat on the battered sofa they have shoved in a corner. He quickly clears it of some random sketch pads and books and a pair of Elliott's antique goggles, and takes a seat next to Blaine, carefully crossing his legs as he half-turns to face him. “Thank you again for being here. I really -”

“Kurt.” Blaine laughs, holding up a hand. “Stop thanking me. Do you know how excited I am to be here?”

He lowers his head a bit, pleased. “Blaine -”

“Maybe just start by telling me what this show is about. That seems a good place to start, doesn't it? And then we can go from there and see what to do about the music.”

“Okay.” Kurt leans back in his seat, smiles over at him. “Yes. That sounds good.”

So he starts telling him about the weeks of effort that went into all of it, about how he and Elliott had looked all over for a kid-appropriate show they could put on that would allow as many of them as possible to shine and still feature a real Broadway star in their midst. He tells him how they just hadn't been able to find anything that really fit, anything that met all of their criteria.

Creating their own thing had been Kurt's idea and Elliott had been skeptical at first – but Kurt had known his kids could do it. They are great kids. So he'd let them come up with a story. All of them. Together. They'd painted pictures and told stories and he'd set the framework, of course, directed them in their efforts, but the show they came up with was all of them together, a patchwork of the things they could do. A story about a bunch of animals saving the lion before he could be shipped off to a zoo.

“We have a lot of children's songs about animals in there,” Kurt tells Blaine. “The younger kids love them. But it's not complete. And now we'll have to change all the parts that were centered around Rachel – she and Cooper obviously have very different voices. I also don't think that Cooper would be particularly thrilled playing a female flamingo.”

Blaine laughs. “No, he's much more like King Louie from _The Jungle Book_. Don't tell him I said that.”

Kurt grins. “I promise I won't. But we do need to come up with a new animal for him and that means changing some of the story and songs around.”

“And that's exactly what I'm here for,” Blaine reminds him, taking out a large notebook. “Show me what you've got. I'll rearrange what needs to be rearranged and – who knows. Maybe we can come up with one or two new things even.”

Kurt feels his eyes widen. “That quickly? We still need time to rehearse everything.”

Blaine shrugs. “No promises. But I'll see what I can do, okay?”

It's difficult not to hug him out of sheer gratitude. “Okay.”

**

He's surprised to look up from his laptop and find it's half past three already – it's like coming up from a dream after hours of being engrossed in his work. There are empty take-out cartons strewn across the room and across from him on the couch Blaine is sitting with his back to the armrest, knees drawn up to his chest, scribbling something and then crossing it out with a look of intense concentration on his face.

Kurt leans back in his desk chair and stretches his arms high up above his head, feels the joints in his shoulders pop a little. He groans, lowers his head to find Blaine studying him with amusement on his face.

“How's it going?” he asks.

Kurt shrugs. “Not bad actually! I liked your idea of making Cooper a lion, so I've written him into a few scenes – I think it works!”

Blaine looks pleased. “I thought so. I've had a look at Rachel's songs and I think I can make them work for Cooper,” he says. “I have a few ideas. I'll work some more on them tonight, promise!”

“Blaine, you don't have to spend your evening -”

“I want to,” Blaine quickly interrupts him. “This is fun, Kurt!”

He leans forward on his elbows, stares down at his hands. “I just feel bad that I'm taking up so much of your time.”

“Well, you know.” Blaine closes his notebook, slides his legs off the sofa to sit up. “If I write you something and it gets performed on stage by your kids, I can put that on my resume. That I've had original work performed at Spotlight Theater. This is not all completely altruistic. I am, in fact, being quite selfish here.”

“You're not,” Kurt disagrees, and he can't keep the laughter inside.

“Well, anyway,” Blaine says. “I have to go. Piano lessons.”

“Of course,” Kurt says. “I'll walk you out. I have to meet your brother out front anyway.”

Walking out with Blaine and chatting happily away about the best coffee places in the area, it doesn't feel like they met all of a few days ago. It feels like they're best friends already. Blaine is so easy to talk to.

**

Rehearsal goes off without a hitch and Kurt feels a lot better once they're winding down that afternoon – the kids immediately like Cooper and he seems to have fun running around with them, chatting with them, singing with them.

For all of Blaine's careful warnings and his own impression of Cooper's rather inflated ego, Cooper takes direction incredibly well, voices his own ideas in a respectful and humble way, and is generally just really pleasant to work with. Politeness must be an Anderson family trait, Kurt thinks. Politeness and a sunny disposition, he corrects himself as he watches Cooper laughing his ass off while five kids at once try to climb on top of him, yelling at the top of their lungs.

Usually he'd step in to help, but rehearsal time is over anyway and Cooper seems to have everything under control, so Kurt instead turns to little Emily who's tugging at his sleeve, crouches down so he's eye-level with her to answer her question about whether or not she can stand next to Chloe instead of Jack during the group number.

He sees Elliott watching and waving at him from the back row and he waves back – Elliott looks in sometimes on his way to the office. Kurt makes a mental note to stop by there on his way out to have a quick talk with him. Technically, this is still Elliott's show – he should know about the changes he and the Anderson brothers have made to it.

Once all the kids have been picked up by their parents and Cooper has said goodbye to him with a big smile and a rather unexpected hug, Kurt starts cleaning up the stage, putting away props and gathering up all the things the kids had left scattered across the stage.

He's carrying a box of funny hats back to storage when he runs into Sebastian, who stops in his tracks, crosses his arms in front of his chest with a self-satisfied smirk as he sees Kurt.

“He's cute,” he says.

Kurt stops, blinks, doesn't get it. “Excuse me?”

“Your new boy toy,” Sebastian specifies. “Where did you find that one? Is he even gay or has he just not figured out yet that you're not actually a girl?”

Kurt shakes his head, confused. “I don't have a boyfriend.”

“Does Elliott know?”

“About what?”

“About some random dude playing with you. And the children. I'm sure the parents will be really interested to find out that there are more strange men getting really close to their kids -”

“The parents know,” Kurt informs him. “They all got an email about it yesterday. No one has complained.”

“And Elliott doesn't care? Or doesn't he know?”

“About _what_?” Kurt snaps, getting impatient as he hikes the box higher up on his hip. “I don't know what you think is going on here, Sebastian, but I can guarantee you that you're wrong. And don't worry your strange little head about me and Elliott. Okay?”

“Just remember that this is a theater and you're working with kids. And I saw that hug.”

“You're delusional.”

“You're ruining charity week.”

He fights down the hot rush of anger, breathes calmly. “If you're that interested in my show, I'm sure we can write you in,” he spits at him. “We don't have a bitter, conspiring meerkat yet.”

Sebastian opens his mouth, no doubt to insult him back, but Kurt tightens his grip on the box he's carrying, holds his head high and walks right past him without listening.

That guy thinks he's such a badass. Kurt has dealt with worse when he was still in high school. Sebastian can't get to him.

He can sabotage his show and possibly his career. But he will never get to him in _that_ way. No way in hell.

He finds Elliott in their shared little office where he's sat with Blaine all morning, closes the door behind himself and collapses onto the sofa. Elliott looks up from his laptop, grins at him.

“You look awful.”

Kurt sighs dramatically. “Rehearsal went great, but then I ran into Sebastian.”

Elliott frowns. “You know, your life would be so much easier if you could just get along with that guy. He's not so bad once you get to know him.”

Kurt just gapes at him. “Elliott, I told you what he did! It's a miracle we're managing to pull the show back together at all and I'm still not a hundred percent convinced it'll work.”

Elliott leans back in his chair. “From what I saw earlier, the kids seemed to love your new star.”

“He's not Rachel,” Kurt sulks. He doesn't really get why Elliott is defending Sebastian.

“Of course not,” Elliott says. “No one is Rachel. But Rachel isn't here, Kurt.”

“Sebastian almost ruined us,” Kurt reminds him.

“I know that.” Elliott nods. “And I talked to him. I also talked to Gunther and April so none of this can fall back on you. They know.”

“Thank you.”

“But I think Sebastian knows that what he did was wrong and if you asked him to help you out fixing it -”

“What?” Kurt sits up straight. “No way. What?”

“I think he wants to.”

“Um.” He laughs. “No, he doesn't. You should have heard him right now. He more or less accused me of sleeping with Cooper to get him to help us out.”

Elliott shrugs. “I think that's just kind of how he talks? How his mind works. I don't think he's malicious.”

“Elliott -” Kurt shakes his head, feels suddenly untethered and alone. “I can't believe you're taking his side.”

“I'm not,” Elliott says, leaning forward to meet his eyes. “Kurt, I'm not taking his side. I'm just saying … we have to work together here. And I think – I don't know. I think Sebastian feels left out. I think that's why he did what he did. I think maybe he just needs to feel useful.”

“Yeah, well.” Kurt takes a breath, shakes his head stubbornly. “He can go and feel useful somewhere else.”

“I just think that -”

“Elliott, he didn't pull a few pranks. He almost ruined everything!”

“I know that,” Elliott promises. “Look, you don't have to involve him. But I think you should think about it at least.”

“Why?” Kurt asks. “Ever since I got here, he's done nothing but sabotage me.”

“It's not like you've exactly been a little sunshine to him,” Elliott says, rolling his eyes at him and giving him that annoying _knowing_ look he gets sometimes.

“He started it,” Kurt mumbles, knowing he sounds petulant. He doesn't like it, and he doesn't know what's wrong that suddenly he has to defend himself.

“I'm sorry, okay?” Elliott says. “You know me. I just want everyone to get along.”

“I'm just not as nice as you, I guess,” Kurt says, attempts a little grin in his friend's direction.

Elliott shakes his head. “That's where you're wrong, you know? Why do you think those kids love you so much?”

Kurt shrugs. “They're kids. And I give them cool costumes to play with.”

“No.” Elliott smiles, leans back in his desk chair. “They're excellent judges of character. As am I.”

“Shut up,” Kurt mumbles, and lowers his head, but deep down, he can't deny that he's pleased. Not many people know him and like him. But the kids do, it's true. As does Elliott. And, he thinks, possibly Blaine. Maybe. Hopefully.

He doesn't know why it's so important to him that Blaine likes him. He doesn't even really know the guy. But he's polite and helpful and sweet, and yeah, Kurt really wants him to like him. He doesn't think that that's a bad thing, for him to want to be liked.

“Dinner in an hour?” Elliott asks. “I have to finish up a few things first.”

Kurt nods. “Who else is coming?”

“Chandler and Dani. And your roommate.”

“Santana?” Kurt tilts his head.

“I think she likes Dani.”

“I know she likes Dani,” Kurt answers. “I didn't know she knew it too yet.”

“We could also invite Sebastian, if you want,” Elliott suggests, then ducks when Kurt throws a stuffed lion at his head. “Okay, okay, we'll hold the peace talks some other day in a more formal setting!”

“Thank you,” Kurt says, gathers up his bag. “I'll meet you guys outside. I'll have to find a quiet spot to call Blaine and give him a progress report.”


	6. Chapter 6

Blaine can't deny that he's a little bit nervous – part of it may also be sleep deprivation, though. He's been up until very late at night working on this and he can't wait to show Kurt. He just hopes he'll like it.

Kurt helps out with the matinee today so he's texted Blaine that he'll be out by seven, and before he could think too much about it, Blaine had simply invited him over to his apartment. Kurt says he can be there by a quarter to eight. It's convenient – he has a piano in his living room, the last of his students leaves at six-thirty, and Kurt will be hungry once he gets off work so this leaves Blaine enough time to put together a dinner for the two of them. Just something simple, he doesn't want to overstep and make this into something it's not. This is a business meeting.

He makes pasta and a salad, is just trying to make up his mind on whether or not to open that bottle of wine he's been saving, when there's a knock on his door – and it's almost 7:45 p.m. on the dot.

Smiling to himself, he heads for the door, opens it to find Kurt standing on the other side of it with a shy smile on his face, cheeks a little flushed from the four flights of stairs he's had to climb, one hand clutching the strap of his bag as he meets Blaine's eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Blaine says back, steps back to let him through into the apartment. “I hope you're hungry.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow, tilts his head at him. “You're wearing an apron. What did you do?”

“I made you dinner.”

Kurt laughs. “Oh god. And I'm starving. Will you never stop saving me?”

Blaine laughs with him, waits as Kurt takes his shoes off. Sometimes it feels as if they've known each other for years. This feels – domestic, comfortable, safe. “I have wine if you want some.”

Kurt seems to think about it. “Red or white?”

“Red. Dry.”

“That actually sounds amazing. But Blaine, you'll have to let me return the favor eventually, you know that, right?”

“You say that as if having dinner with you again at some point would be such a terrible hardship.”

“You haven't seen me eat yet when I'm really starving! Maybe I have terrible table manners.”

Blaine squints at him, the careful way he's put himself together from his hair down to his shoes, and shakes his head. “Somehow, I really doubt that.”

They decide to eat first because Kurt really is hungry and it's getting late and Blaine realizes how rarely he has people over anymore and how much he misses it. His brother comes over sometimes. Wes visited last month when he was in the city. But ever since he'd finished college he'd fallen into a routine that felt comfortable and safe and easy at the time, but, he thinks now, it is a rather lonely one.

A lot of his college friends have moved away, some others he has lost touch with. The ones he still talks to have their own jobs, some have started families, and somehow he's gotten lost in the process of building a post-college life for himself.

He really enjoys having Kurt over. And not only because he's company. It's because he's Kurt. He likes him. He really, really likes him. Kurt tells him it's lucky he ran into Blaine that morning but Blaine knows it works the other way around too – maybe even more so. It's been not even a whole week since they met and he hardly recognizes his own life anymore; he feels as if he has a purpose, he feels happy and needed and useful. And last night, even after he'd finished the first version of his song, he'd hardly been able to fall asleep, mind buzzing with all the things he had yet to do and all the things he was looking forward to.

He's always liked being busy, being challenged, trying new things. Maybe he's helping save Kurt's show, but, he thinks, Kurt is saving him too from falling too far into his comfortable routine of students and open mic nights. All of this is new and exciting and he can barely sit still all through dinner, he can't stop talking to Kurt, laughing at his jokes, looking at his face.

Yes, he really, really likes him. Not just because of the things he's done for him. He likes _Kurt_.

After dinner, Kurt insists on helping with the dishes and Blaine learns another thing about his new friend – he's really stubborn and extremely good at winning arguments. Blaine doesn't like losing, but in this case all he's lost is the prospect of having to clean up after them once Kurt is gone. What he has won instead is Kurt giving him the sunniest (if a little self-satisfied smile) and more easy conversation as Blaine washes and Kurt dries.

Once they're done Blaine wipes down the kitchen table and puts away the leftovers while Kurt leans his hip against the kitchen counter and sips from his wine glass, watching Blaine work with a thoughtful expression.

“You know,” he says after a minute. “You and your brother. You're a lot alike.”

Blaine pauses, looks up at him. “Really? I've always thought we were complete opposites.”

“I don't think so,” Kurt says. “From what I can tell. I mean, I don't know either of you all that well yet. But you're both very kind. And … real, you know?”

Blaine laughs. “I can assure you I'm real,” he says.

Kurt shakes his head, grins and lowers his eyes, swirling the contents of his wine glass. “That's not what I meant, Blaine. I mean that there's nothing fake about either of you. You're nice. Both of you. You don't meet many genuinely nice people in this business.”

“Thank you.” Blaine says.

“I mean it.”

“I'm glad,” he tells him. “Especially – I think not many people get Cooper like that. They think he's too in love with himself. And maybe he is, but -”

“I think he just kind of loves everything,” Kurt says. “Including himself. I admire that.”

Blaine just looks at him and doesn't understand; who is this guy? He seems too good to be real sometimes. “The same thing is true about you, you know? You're kind too. And you're you. I like that about you.”

“I'm not that nice,” Kurt says quietly, and suddenly Blaine is overcome with the overwhelming urge to kiss him.

He swallows it down, stays at his side of the kitchen. “You are too. Don't argue. Let me win this round, okay?”

Kurt's smile is small and shy and he's not meeting his eyes, voice quiet as he says, “Okay.”

“So. Do you want to hear my song now?”

He looks up at that, almost relieved. “Yes. Please. I'd love to.”

“Follow me,” Blaine tells him and leads him from the kitchen toward the small living room where the piano is.

Kurt settles on the couch as Blaine takes his seat on the piano bench, fingers hovering over the keys. “It's not done. I only really started putting together a final version yesterday. So if it's weird in places -”

“I'm sure I'll like it.”

“Okay.”

“Are you nervous?”

“I don't often let people hear my original stuff.”

“Blaine, you know you don't have to do this, right? We can work with cover songs, it's not a problem. I don't want to rush you into anything you might not be ready for.”

“No, I want to do this,” Blaine says. “But don't feel pressured to use this just because my brother performs for you, I'm not trying to – I'm not into nepotism, I'm not doing this to -”

“I promise you that I'll honestly tell you if I don't like it,” Kurt tells him. “I told you, I'm not that nice. You have nothing to worry about.”

That makes him laugh and he feels more relaxed immediately – Kurt knows how these things work, he's a musician too. He won't expect it to be perfect right off the bat.

So Blaine begins playing, a simple little song, sings quietly at first and then louder when he sees Kurt smiling at him. It's not a rewritten version of one of Rachel's songs, it's something new, some of the lyrics are borrowed and adjusted for Cooper, but the music is his.

Once he's done he sits very still, doesn't look up from the piano, waits, waits...

“Wow,” Kurt sighs, and when he turns his head, Kurt is looking at him, wonder in his eyes, his face happier than Blaine has yet seen it. “You wrote that?”

He shrugs. “It was an almost finished song I had lying around forever, and I never knew what to do with it. Until yesterday.”

“Blaine. It's _amazing_!”

“I mean, it's nothing special, but I thought maybe less complicated was better in this context...”

“Did you not hear me?” Kurt rolls his eyes at him, still grinning widely. “I love it, Blaine. I _love_ it. We're absolutely using this! If you'll let us have it, that is.”

“Of course,” Blaine says. “I wrote it for you. Well, I finished it for you. But the point is, yes, I'd be happy to see this in the show.”

“Then it's in.”

“It still needs work.”

Kurt chuckles. “Well, naturally. You only just finished it.”

“When is Cooper's next rehearsal with you guys?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“I'll have something for you by then.”

“You're amazing,” Kurt tells him, and he looks so _happy_. Blaine decides he really likes seeing him like this. “Thank you so, so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you're doing for these kids, Blaine.”

 _I'm not just doing it for the kids_ , Blaine thinks, but doesn't say it.

He plays Kurt some more songs while he finishes his wine, old standards, new pop songs. Kurt hums along to Frank Sinatra and smiles wide and uninhibited to Katy Perry.

At the door, he lets Blaine hug him, hugs him back without hesitating.

“I'll come by tomorrow and we can sort out the lyrics and stuff.”

“I'll be there around nine,” Kurt says.

“Then I'll see you at nine,” Blaine answers and doesn't close the door until even the top of Kurt's hair has disappeared down the steep old staircase in the hall.


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt's waiting out front for him same as last time when he gets to the theater in the morning, and he's holding two huge paper cups in his hands, grinning widely.

“Good morning,” Blaine greets him.

“Good morning,” Kurt says and offers him one of the cups. “Coffee?”

Blaine feels his eyes widen. “For me?”

“It's really the least I can do.”

“Kurt!” He accepts the cup, their fingers brushing as Kurt hands it over. “You didn't have to!” He's glad for the coffee since he's been up until late at night working on the song – he thinks it's almost done. He hadn't been able to go to bed before he hadn't had a version he was comfortable showing to Kurt today. They have one more day until the rehearsal, but he hopes that maybe he'll get a chance to try it out on stage without Cooper or the kids present.

“It's just coffee,” Kurt says.

“I've worked on the song a bit more. I think it's coming along nicely.”

“That's great,” Kurt answers as he leads him inside. “If you want, we can start with that? So we get it ready for your brother tomorrow. Unless you want to work on it by yourself first -”

“All I need is a piano,” Blaine tells him. “I'm good to go!”

“There's no one on the stage this morning,” Kurt says. “Not this early. I think Elliott has a rehearsal at ten, but until then -”

“Sounds good!”

He follows Kurt through the theater, down a different corridor than last time – they're heading to the stage and not to the tiny office. Blaine sips his coffee and makes sure to keep his eyes open – this had been his dream too, growing up. He doesn't want to miss a thing.

There's an old upright piano backstage that Kurt points at. “You can use that. Do you want the stage or...?”

Blaine shrugs. “Right here is fine.”

Kurt tilts his head at him. “You want to sing on stage, don't you?”

“I don't need to. We can just -”

“It's no trouble, Blaine. I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

Kurt slips his bag off his shoulder, puts his coffee down beside it. “Help me push this thing?” he asks, already putting his hands on one side of the piano.

Blaine hurries to get rid of his own bag and coffee and together they push the heavy piano out onto the dark stage.

“Hold on,” Kurt tells him. “I'll get the lights. You get our coffees.”

“Okay,” Blaine assures him, hurries off back to where they left their things while Kurt leaves for the other side of the stage.

He has Kurt's coffee in one hand and his in the other when a voice he hasn't heard before speaks up behind him.

“And who are you?”

He turns around to find a guy leaning against a wooden beam, arms crossed, eyes squinted. He's tall, skinny, and there's something about him that makes Blaine take an immediate step back.

“I'm here with Kurt.”

“Another one,” the guy says, pushing himself off the beam and walking closer. Blaine doesn't understand.

“Another what?”

“At this rate, he might as well go pro and let you guys pay him for his services.” He looks him up and down slowly. “You're shorter than the last one. What are you doing for him? You must have some … _abilities_.”

It sounds dirty, the way he says it and Blaine decides he doesn't much like this guy. “Excuse me, but who are you?” he wants to know. He doesn't see why he has to justify his presence here to someone who can't even be bothered to introduce himself.

“My name's Sebastian,” the guy says, and takes another step closer. Something in his smile changes. Blaine doesn't like it.

“Oh. Kurt's mentioned you.”

“Has he.” Sebastian tilts his head. “Has he also mentioned the other guys who have come through here lately?”

“...What?”

“Listen,” Sebastian says, leaning in as if he's about to divulge a secret. “You're cute, so I'll do you a favor and advise you to stay away from guys like Kurt. You can do a lot better.” He smirks at him, leans even closer. “A _lot_ better. If you know what I mean.”

Blaine is pretty sure that Sebastian means himself. If that's his way of flirting, Blaine doesn't care much for it, swallows heavily as he steps back. “I don't -”

“Sebastian,” Kurt's voice comes from his left and he closes his eyes, breathes a sigh of relief.

“Ah, look who's back.” Sebastian steps back from Blaine, straightens his shirt as if there's any reason to. “I've been entertaining your puppy while you've been who knows where. Has no one told you not to let them off the leash in a theater?”

“Get lost,” Kurt merely says, walking over to Blaine, and turning his back to Sebastian as he reaches out to take back his coffee cup.

Blaine thinks it might be his imagination, but it feels as if Kurt's fingers linger on his for an extra moment before he pulls back.

“Everything okay?” Kurt asks, meeting his eyes, looking almost apologetic.

Blaine smiles at him. “Everything okay. Are you ready to get started?”

Kurt smiles back, gently touches his arm to lead him toward the stage. “Ready when you are.”

They leave Sebastian backstage and he doesn't follow them. Blaine is grateful for that. He has no idea how Kurt manages to be around that guy every day at work.

“I'm sorry about him,” Kurt says quietly once they're out of earshot. “I didn't even know he was here today.”

“Don't worry about it,” Blaine says. “It's not your fault. But I can see why you don't particularly get along with him.”

“Elliott says he probably just feels left out and that's why he's acting like such a jerk.” Kurt shrugs.

“Do you believe that?” Blaine wants to know.

Kurt shakes his head. “I don't know. And right now I still have to fix what he broke, so I'm not much inclined to give it too much thought.”

Blaine can see from the look on Kurt's face that he's thinking about it anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

It's almost 1am when his phone chirps with an incoming text on his nightstand and Kurt, still awake and busy fixing a giraffe costume with one sleeve ripped off, gets up from his desk to check it – if someone writes him this late, it must be important.

It's Blaine.

_One more song for Cooper? If you want it, I might have something!_

Kurt smiles. _Blaine, do you ever sleep?_

_Again, it's music I already had, but I think we can make it work for the show._

_Can I hear it?_

His phone starts ringing a few seconds later and he picks up immediately. “Hi, Blaine.”

“I didn't wake you, did I? I only just checked the time, I'm so sorry!”

“I wasn't asleep,” Kurt assures him.

“Okay. Good.”

“You seriously have another song for us?”

“It's – well, I wrote it a while ago and it's this perky, catchy little thing and I never knew what to do with it, but I kind of started fiddling around with it earlier after my students left and -”

“I'd love to hear it. You've seen what we have for the show with Rachel missing, if you have anything at all that might help us -”

“Okay,” Blaine says. “Okay, yes. Hold on, let me put you on speaker...”

Kurt waits, hears Blaine shuffling around on the other end of the line.

“I'll have to play it quietly,” he says into Kurt's ear after a few moments. “The neighbors, you know -”

“I didn't even think of that,” Kurt tells him. “I don't want you to get in trouble, we can just -”

“No, it's okay, I'll be careful not to wake anyone,” Blaine promises.

“Okay.”

Kurt listens as he plays and holds his breath; it's a beautiful melody, happy and light and it sounds like Blaine, kind of; it sounds like Cooper too.

“It's perfect,” he tells Blaine once he's done. “Blaine, I love it.”

“I'm glad.”

“You'll really let us use it?”

“It's yours.”

“It's so beautiful, Blaine.”

“It won't be perfect in time for the show.”

Kurt laughs. “It's already perfect for the show. It's fun. That's what we're all about, Blaine.”

He can hear the smile in his voice. “You know that's not what I meant.”

“You're amazingly talented, Blaine,” he tells him, because it's late and he has no filter when he's tired and it's the truth. “You have such a gift.”

“Kurt – thank you.”

“I mean it.”

“It's nothing.”

“It's amazing.”

“I'm nowhere close to what you're doing, Kurt. You're out there working with those kids and going after your dreams and you're so full of talent and energy. You're unstoppable, Kurt. I'm just writing songs in my living room.”

“It's not a competition, Blaine,” Kurt tells him. “I'm complimenting you. Because you really, really deserve it.”

“I just -”

“Don't argue with me. You're saving my life here. Or at least my career. And you really are an incredible musician.”

“No, I just meant that you're -”

“Just say thank you, Blaine.”

“Thank you, Blaine,” Blaine says dutifully, and Kurt laughs out loud.

“You're such a dork.”

“You love it,” Blaine says.

They keep talking. Kurt isn't sure how it happens, but by the time they hang up it's almost 2 a.m. and he decides to finish up his sewing in the morning. He feels too pleasantly tired and happy to worry about anything right now.

**

He thinks about it all morning while he's running his errands for the theater, thinks about it as he prepares everything for the set painting session they have scheduled with the kids and some parents today. An hour before the kids arrive, he makes up his mind and goes to see Elliott first.

“What's up?” he asks him, lifting his head from where he's scribbling something on some sheet music. He has his own rehearsal immediately after the kids leave. Kurt's supposed to stay and offer feedback. It's going to be a long day. Again.

“I think Blaine should play the piano. For the show.”

Elliott frowns. “For his songs?”

He shakes his head. “For all of them.”

“Isn't Brad playing?” Elliott wants to know. “Has Sebastian offended him as well?”

“No.” Kurt grins. “But you know how Brad hates the kids. I don't think Blaine will hate them. And Brad would probably be glad to be off the hook for this one. He has his own concert to prepare for, after all.”

“Have you spoken to Blaine about this? What about Gunther and April?”

He shrugs. “I wanted to ask you first. It's technically still your show.”

“Actually,” Elliott says, “it's not my show. It hasn't been my show since you started taking over, Kurt. This is your thing. It's your responsibility. Do you think it's a good idea for Blaine to accompany the kids?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to offer him the gig? Do you trust him that he can do it?”

He doesn't even hesitate before he answers. “Yes.”

Elliott smiles, nods. “Then you should talk to Gunther and April. I'm sure they won't have a problem with it if you vouch for him.”

“Even after what happened with Rachel?”

“They know that wasn't your fault.”

“Do they believe it too?”

Elliott laughs. “Yeah. I think they do. Go talk to them, Kurt. It'll be okay.”

“Thanks.” He says. “I just didn't want to go behind your back.”

“Your show,” Elliott says. “Your decision.”

“It just still feels a bit weird to be allowed to just decide things,” Kurt admits. “Not that it isn't fun.”

“You're good at it,” Elliott says. “I'm looking forward to the show. We all are.”

“Sebastian isn't.”

“Why do you care what he thinks?”

“I care whether or not he's going to sabotage us again.”

Elliott crosses his arms in front of his chest, looks up at him thoughtfully. “Have you thought about what we talked about? I still think he's just jealous. He's not a bad guy, Kurt. I really don't think he's a bad guy. I think you two might actually get along!”

“Have you met him?”

Elliott shrugs. “He's always really nice to me.”

“Maybe he thinks you can help him get a steady gig here.”

“I don't think it's that,” Elliott says. “He just – he seems like a genuinely nice guy. A bit suspicious of other people's motives, but I don't think he's always had it easy.”

“That's not an excuse for -”

“I'm not excusing anything he did,” Elliott promises. “But, Kurt -”

He sighs, holds up a hand to cut Elliott off. “I'm going to play nice if he does. Deal?”

Elliott grins. “I'm not the one you have to make that deal with, you know that.”

“But that would be so much easier for me,” he mumbles unhappily, and Elliott laughs, gets up to pat his shoulder.

“Come on. I'll buy you a coffee. You can talk to Gunther and April after the kids are gone. I think April isn't even up yet anyway.”

They leave the office together, Elliott's arm slung casually over Kurt's shoulders. In the hall, Sebastian almost runs into them, stops in his tracks to let them pass. The smile he directs at Elliott is sunny and genuine and almost pretty, but as Kurt looks back at him over his shoulder as they walk on, Sebastian's eyes darken as they meet Kurt's – he looks almost hurt. As if Kurt has done something to offend him.

He doesn't get it. He doesn't get it at all. So maybe he hasn't been the most welcoming towards him – they are in competition. That's normal. But he's never been hostile. That has all been Sebastian's doing from the start. And not for the first time Kurt asks himself what the hell he has done to make that guy hate him so much. He can't figure it out.

And right now, he has enough things to worry about without adding all of that to the mix.

**

There is a lot to do until the next rehearsal with Cooper, but he gets it done. Blaine helps a lot when he can in between giving lessons. Kurt feels bad for not being able to stop him – he knows Blaine sacrifices sleep and well-earned free time to help him out. But Blaine insists that he wants to, and despite his gentleness and eagerness to please, Kurt quickly discovers that he can be quite stubborn when necessary.

When Kurt stops by his apartment at night for working on the two songs some more and asks Blaine if he'd be interested at all in accompanying the shows on the piano, Blaine is so excited he hugs him enthusiastically, laughing in that way that makes his eyes crinkle at the corners.

“I'd love to,” he says happily.

Kurt hugs him back and thinks that the show is really coming along nicely.

Blaine is early for rehearsal without having been asked to. He just shows up and helps Kurt set things up, rolls in the piano, humming and smiling the entire time.

It's hard to believe, Kurt thinks as he watches him, that just a few days ago he'd been so very close to giving up. He'd been out of ideas, out of options, and so exhausted he'd been ready to cry. And then Blaine had come along.

Even Cooper is on time despite Blaine's careful hints that his brother likes to make an entrance. He shows up right when he's supposed to, hugs Blaine, greets Kurt with a good-natured slap on the shoulder that makes Kurt's knees buckle, and disappears under a pile of kids as soon as the first parents start dropping off their children. He really is a natural with them, which is yet another thing working in his favor.

Once everyone is there Kurt introduces Blaine, explains to the kids that he'll be playing piano for them, and it takes all of a few minutes before Blaine too is constantly surrounded by a group of adoring little people who follow him around and try to squeeze onto the piano bench next to him when he's playing.

Blaine always carefully directs them back to Kurt so the entire rehearsal won't be derailed, and Kurt exchanges a smile with him – having Blaine and Cooper here is comfortable. He'd been worried about doing this without Elliott, and then he had been worried about bringing in new people, but it's working out wonderfully so far.

Cooper sounds great on the songs Blaine wrote for him and has no problem making a fool of himself for the kids.

It's still chaos and Kurt has to keep track of the show and still find time to scribble down hasty notes for later, but he can see Blaine scribbling away too, sometimes signaling him across the stage, and it feels good to know there's someone else keeping an eye out for improvements.

As rehearsal winds down Kurt lets the kids choose a few songs they want to do just for fun, walks over to Blaine as Cooper leads the kids in a rousing rendition of _You've Got A Friend In Me_.

“That went well, didn't it?” he asks, sitting down on the bench next to him.

Blaine nods, bumps their shoulders together. “It did. I'm so impressed with all of them.”

“They're amazing kids,” Kurt tells him. “That's why they deserve the chance to do their own thing.”

Blaine looks at him, his smile slow and warm. “You really love them, don't you?”

Kurt shrugs. “I – guess they remind me of me a bit? When I was their age. And I've always really loved me. At least if you ask everyone who's ever -”

“Kurt,” Blaine cuts him off, leaning into him again and taking his hand. “This is an amazing thing you're doing here. Don't downplay it.”

“I'm not.”

“You are, a little bit. And you've put so much work into this. You still are. And the children obviously adore you. They can tell how much you love them.”

“They really are great kids. They're amazing. All of them.”

“ _You_ are amazing,” Blaine tells him and squeezes his hand a bit, and Kurt swallows heavily, can't tear his eyes from Blaine's.

“I -”

Blaine laughs softly, doesn't look away either. “Just say thank you, Kurt,” he says quietly.

“Thank you, Kurt,” Kurt says, and Blaine laughs again, a squeaky little laugh, and doesn't let go of his hand.

Kurt can't remember if he's ever been so aware of his hand being held before.

“Hey, Blaine,” Cooper calls over and Blaine lifts his head, Kurt pulling his hand away carefully and cradling it against his chest. He feels a bit unsettled.

“What is it?” Blaine calls back.

Cooper has three kids hanging off his sleeve, uses his free hand to ruffle the hair of a little boy with wide eyes who's leaning against his leg. “Little Carlos here doesn't believe that even little people can play piano. Would you maybe get up for a second? I need to prove a point!”

Kurt watches as Blaine jumps up from the piano bench to chase his brother around the stage with a war cry, watches as the kids separate into two teams cheering on either Cooper or Blaine. He picks up his note pad and walks over to the other end of the stage to sit down cross-legged, jotting down a few more notes on his to-do list.

Shy little Pavel comes over to sit down beside him while the other kids are shouting and chasing after Blaine and Cooper, and Kurt lets him rest his head against his arm and writes more carefully so he doesn't jostle him.

Things quiet down on the stage a little before he's even done writing and when he looks up he sees Blaine with Carlos and Emily and Sylvia back at the piano, explaining something to them and letting them press the keys he's indicating. 

Cooper is kneeling in the middle of the stage, talking animatedly to the rest of the kids.

“The trick is,” Cooper says, reaching out to gently take Maggie's arm and lift it until she's pointing straight ahead, “to point at things. It doesn't matter what you're pointing at so much. Just make it look like you really _mean_ it! And talk _loudly_. Can you do that?”

The kids scream happily at each other and Kurt grins to himself. This is chaos. It's completely insane. It's beautiful.

**

Once the kids have all left and Cooper is gone, Blaine still sticks around to help Kurt clean up and he's grateful for it – this means he'll have the time to grab a bite to eat before he has to help out with Elliott's rehearsal. Being an intern is a lot of work sometimes.

“I saw you taking notes,” Kurt mentions to Blaine as they're carrying boxes of props backstage.

“Oh.” Blaine lowers his head. “I didn't mean to – I figured I'd just -”

“You're not overstepping, if that's what you're worried about,” Kurt interrupts him. “I'd be helpful for any suggestions. That's why I'm mentioning it.”

“It was just a few small things,” Blaine promises. “Mostly about the music.”

“We could talk it over together later?” Kurt suggests.

Blaine nods. “I have two students tonight but I'll be free by seven.”

Kurt nods. “Elliott's rehearsal shouldn't run much longer. So, tonight?”

Blaine hesitates and Kurt balances his box on one hip as he opens the storage closet for them, puts away his own box first, then taking Blaine's and placing it carefully on top.

“You could just come over again,” Blaine suggests. “I have the piano. You know. For the songs.”

“I wouldn't want to impose -”

“I'm inviting you!”

Kurt grins, shoulders falling as he gives in far too easily. “But I'm bringing dinner.”

“I can just put something together for us.”

“No. I'm really starting to feel bad about letting you write songs for the show _and_ feed me _and_ be just so helpful with … everything else. I'm bringing dinner.”

“It's not as if I'm not getting anything out of it,” Blaine points out, and Kurt laughs.

“It's my pleasure,” he promises, and leaves Blaine to gather their things backstage while he goes to get the last box from the stage.

He returns to the sight of Blaine crowded into a corner, shaking his head vehemently, Sebastian leaning into him with his hands against the wall on both sides of Blaine's face, talking fast from the looks of it. He has that smile on his face that Kurt can't stand; he looks so self-assured Kurt wants to shove him away from Blaine. Instead, he walks over calmly.

“- just around the corner from the theater,” Sebastian is saying to Blaine. “It's really nice, just this small pace with this really – _intimate_ sort of atmosphere. Sophisticated.” He leans in closer, lifts his eyebrows at Blaine coyly. “You seem like the sophisticated type. What do you say?”

Blaine's eyes dart across the small backstage space, lighting up at the sight of Kurt, and he ducks out under Sebastian's arm, shaking his head resolutely. “I'm sorry, but I don't think that's such a good idea.”

Sebastian looks at him, then at Kurt, one corner of his mouth twitching. “Hummel won't mind,” he says to Blaine, not coy anymore. “It's not like there's a shortage of guys he could fall back on if you're unavailable for a night.”

Kurt tilts his head at him. “Sebastian, I really have no idea where you're getting your information from,” he says. “But a) it's not true and b) if it were, are you insulting me or are you jealous? I can't work it out.”

Sebastian huffs out a breath at him, then winks at Blaine. “Think about it,” he says. “Consider it … an open invitation.”

Blaine says nothing, waits until Sebastian has disappeared around the corner.

“Sorry about that,” Kurt says.

“What's his problem with you?” Blaine wants to know. “Did you, like, kill his dog or something?”

Kurt shrugs helplessly. “I honestly have no idea.”

“It's seriously weird.”

“Elliott keeps insisting that he's a nice guy. I don't know where he gets that. It's like there are two Sebastians.”

“I mean, I know competition for a job at this place would have to be vicious, but I didn't think it would actually be _vicious_ , you know?”

Kurt nods. “I know, right? I want this job more than anything in my life. But Sebastian's methods just seem extreme.”

Blaine bumps their shoulders together, smiles at him. “Well, anyway,” he says. “You can bring dinner tonight. But I'm allowed to make dessert.”

Kurt has to laugh at that. “Because of me you had to cancel some of your lessons, you're hardly getting any sleep, and you've just been almost sexually harassed. And you still want to cook for me?”

Blaine shrugs. “What can I say. I'm just that nice.”

Kurt wants to hug him. He doesn't do it. But he really, really wants to.


	9. Chapter 9

He gets to Blaine's apartment by a quarter to eight, bags with take-out in his hands. It's been a long day, but a productive one. Their own rehearsal had been so good and then he'd had the chance to stay all through Elliott's rehearsal and help him out and offer advice. 

Sebastian had been there too. But – Elliott was right, he'd suddenly been nice and helpful and competent around him. He'd been like a whole different person. He had also never crossed paths with Kurt directly.

Blaine opens the door for him with his sunniest smile and Kurt immediately forgets all about Sebastian; Blaine is right here in front of him and they have work to do – work that is so much fun for both of them.

“I made cheesecake for dessert,” Blaine says in lieu of a greeting. “I hope that's okay.”

Kurt wonders if it's okay to fall just a little bit in love with him. “That's perfect! I love cheesecake!”

“Wonderful! Come in!” Blaine takes a step back so Kurt can walk past him.

He steps out of his shoes in the tiny hall and carries his bag with the notes through into the tiny living room. Blaine's place is small but cozy, all warm colors and soft light. Bookshelves are lining an entire wall, there's the piano, a comfortable couch and a TV set. A huge stereo sits between Blaine's books and there are potted plants on the window sill and a guitar sitting on a guitar stand next to the couch. The coffee table is covered in magazines and notepads with an open laptop balanced on top. There's some clutter around the room, but it almost looks artful.

The space looks lived in, used, a reflection of Blaine's active mind and pleasant personality. It feels welcoming.

“Dinner first?” Blaine wants to know.

Kurt nods, groans. “Please! I'm _starving_. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to carry those bags all the way here without eating all of it?”

Blaine grins down at the two rather large bags. “ _All_ of it? You could have died.”

“Hah. Well. Um.” Kurt lowers his head, blushing a little. “Never go food shopping when you're hungry. It seemed like a good idea at the time?”

“It is a good idea,” Blaine assures him. “I'm starving too. Come on!”

Kurt follows him into the kitchen where the cutest and tiniest kitchen table he has ever seen is shoved into one corner, two chairs just fitting against the two sides facing the room. This is where they ate last time. Kurt almost feels at home already.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Blaine tells him, waving toward a chair before he goes to get the plates from a shelf, grabs a bottle of juice out of the narrowest fridge Kurt has ever seen.

He smiles to himself as he maneuvers himself onto one of the chairs, shuffling around a bit to get both legs under the table. Blaine and his miniature life. It's cute. It should be crammed, crowded, but it's not. It's … _safe_ , Kurt thinks. Safe and comfortable. He's starting to understand that that might refer to more than just Blaine's apartment. He's not sure yet if that's because Blaine likes it this way or because he hasn't found a bigger space yet. What he's sure of, though, is that he likes Blaine. He really, really likes him.

Blaine who fits his things into tiny spaces with enough room to still let the sun in. He _really_ likes him. A lot.

**

For Blaine, rehearsals quickly become the highlights of his week, but not just because he gets to play with the kids (and he really loves those kids, loves their energy, thinks for the first time in a while about maybe someday wanting some of his own except for the fact that he doesn't have anyone to raise them with, hasn't even been on a date in months). 

It took Blaine all of thirty seconds during the first rehearsal with Kurt's theater group to fall in love with all of the kids. They're amazing and talented and they think it's cool that he knows how to play the piano and they even like Cooper, and not many people know Cooper and like him too.

But rehearsals are wonderful for more reasons than that. Blaine loves rehearsal because he loves the theater, he likes the way it feels to be there, the way his music sounds there. He loves the dusty way it smells backstage, the way it makes him feel like a part of something bigger, like someone who is needed and wanted and able to contribute. He just _loves_ it.

And Blaine also likes rehearsal because he gets to see Kurt. He couldn't pinpoint a moment in time when he realized that seeing Kurt has become a highlight of (almost) every day, but there it is. He can't _wait_ to see him again once they part ways at the end of a day. They almost never stop talking, exchanging texts constantly. 

Kurt asks his advice about decisions he needs to make for the show and Blaine feels so proud and honored to be trusted like this.

But Kurt also sends him random messages about annoying people at the grocery store and about the book he's trying to read and about his neighbor's cat who likes to nap on his fire escape. Blaine texts him a picture of the cute puppy he sees at the corner by the bakery and of the dinner he's making and tells Kurt about his piano student Eva who is seven and whose parents made her go and who didn't want to learn and spent the first two lessons pouting, and who now progresses so rapidly he thinks she might be some sort of musical genius.

Somehow, Kurt has become such a good friend already, the first person he texts when a random thought enters his head. He knows he's falling in love with him a little bit, but he likes the feeling. And he'd known it was probably going to happen since the first moment he'd seen him at the park early that Saturday morning. Kurt is beautiful, so beautiful. But it's his softness, the kindness that lives inside of him, that Blaine is falling in love with. Kurt tries to cover it with sarcasm and self-deprecating commentary, but Blaine can see it so clearly. Kurt is _beautiful_. Not just on the outside.

They're quickly approaching the day of the first performance now, three more days and two rehearsals and it's still a little messy and a little rough but Kurt has managed to put it together in such a way that it looks as if it's _meant_ to be a little chaotic. Blaine admires that about him, the way Kurt takes things and throws one look at them and bends them to his will. And he makes everyone, everyone involved in the show, feel not only welcome but vital to their success.

Three days before the first show and Blaine sits at the piano, waiting for his cue as the kids run around on stage playing out the story Kurt created with them. He observes, watches, sees Cooper in the middle of them playing his part and his heart swells a bit with pride for his brother. He can't deny that he'd been a little nervous that Cooper would go full-on diva, but instead he takes the part as seriously as if it were Hollywood and fully commits to every part of it.

He sees Kurt standing off to the side giving directions and little hints when necessary, little Pavel clinging to his leg; that little boy who wants so badly to be part of the performance and is so afraid of going on stage and interacting with the other kids and who doesn't want to sing. So now he doesn't have to; Kurt's altered a rabbit costume for him (he really is tiny) and now he's free to run on and off the stage as much as he likes. For the final group number, his job is to sit on Cooper's shoulders, because Cooper is the lion they just saved and he thanks them by becoming friends with all the animals, even the shy little rabbit.

Blaine remembers Kurt kneeling on the floor in front of that little boy who was crying because he wanted to be a part of everything but just didn't know how. He remembers Kurt telling him all about his idea for the little rabbit, explaining so patiently, “It's a very important part. It's very important that the lion makes friends with _all_ the animals. Even with little rabbits who can't talk. Someone has to play that little rabbit, but it's not easy because the rabbit can't talk and sing and he has to sit very high up on the lion's shoulders. Do you think you can do that?”

He remembers seeing that little boy thinking about it, remembers seeing him stop crying once he realized he'd been offered something just right for him. He remembers Kurt smiling and cleaning off the little boy's face with a tissue and letting him stay off to the side, participating when he felt comfortable and otherwise just observing.

Blaine thinks it would be impossible not to fall at least a little bit in love with Kurt.

“That went well, didn't it?” Kurt asks him after rehearsal, when all the kids have been picked up, the stage has been tidied and they're on their way to dinner together. He's had more dinners with Kurt than without him these past one and a half weeks.

“It's an amazing show, Kurt,” Blaine assures him. “Everyone is going to love it.”

Kurt beams at him. “Thank you. I could not have done it without you, you know that, right?”

“You could have,” Blaine assures him, because Kurt can do anything. “But I'm happy that you let me help. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.” For a moment, he wishes he were allowed to take his hand. But he has no idea if Kurt even sees him that way. And he's content to wait until after their show is done to figure out what exactly he wants to do about all the things he's starting to feel for this amazing man.

It's definitely a crush. Maybe more. For now, he just enjoys knowing him, getting to spend time with him. He loves spending time with Kurt.


	10. Chapter 10

It's two days before their first show and one day before their final dress rehearsal and Kurt can't deny the fact that he's nervous. But tonight, he's helping out with Elliott's rehearsal, which mostly means he's taking notes while watching his best friend in full Starchild-costume singing his heart out on stage.

Elliott's show turned more into a concert, but April and Gunther are fine with it and Kurt thinks it's a wise decision on their parts to let Elliott – currently Starchild – do whatever he wants to do. Because he is spectacular. He's a rock star. Kurt watches and takes notes and feels his chest almost bursting with pride for his amazing best friend. He knows exactly what a privilege it is to be allowed to work with him and he hopes he'll never start taking it lightly and brushing it off as less than it really is. Elliott is an inspiration.

Sebastian is there too, always helping out with Elliott's rehearsals lately, and Kurt wonders why – Sebastian isn't a regular member of the theater's cast and he's playing a small part of his own in the full ensemble show that is starting off charity week. There is no need for him to be here unless he has volunteered to help out.

So Kurt sits back and watches him too on top of the performance. He just cannot figure him out at all. Because interacting with Elliott and his team he is professional, efficient, honest with his feedback but always kind. He seems like a decent person; a bit snobbish for Kurt's taste but he's met worse people at NYADA. He thinks about what Elliott had said to him about Sebastian and tries, honestly tries to look past their history, tries to work out if he thinks they could ever get along if Sebastian hadn't done what he did

He doesn't think so, not really. But he does wonder about him, and about his motivation for his recent actions.

After rehearsal, he goes to find Elliott backstage, notes in hand. He doesn't really have a lot of criticism. The show is almost perfect the way it is. Which isn't a surprise, after all the hard work his friend put into it.

Elliott is talking to Sebastian when Kurt approaches and Kurt hangs back to let them finish, but Sebastian's expression changes when he sees him and he steps back, the usual sneer back on his face instead of the smile he was just wearing moments earlier.

“I don't mean to interrupt,” Kurt says, and Sebastian laughs.

Elliott shakes his head at him, seemingly not noticing Sebastian's changed mood or maybe he just doesn't think it's weird. “You're not interrupting anything.”

“Of course not,” Sebastian mumbles.

“I have notes,” Kurt tries cheerfully, waving his notepad. “You know, whenever you have a minute. No rush.”

“Thank you,” Elliott says. “What did you think?”

“It was awesome,” Kurt assures him. “Really. It was. There's hardly anything I could even write down.”

“I have to admit, I'm getting a little nervous,” Elliott says.

“Don't be,” Sebastian says quietly, and Kurt thinks he's never heard this tone of voice before. “You're going to be amazing, Elliott!”

“I agree,” Kurt says carefully. “Um, have you had dinner yet? Because I'm starving and we could go over my notes over pizza.”

Elliott opens his mouth to reply, but Sebastian talks over him. “I thought we were gonna – you know.” He waves a hand, looking at Elliott almost pleadingly.

“Yeah, I, um.” Elliott clears his throat. “Sebastian and I are going out for tacos. You could come. We can go over all the notes at once!”

Kurt doesn't really want to hang out with Sebastian and the look he gets from him isn't exactly encouraging either, so he quickly declines. “Thank you. But I just remembered I promised Santana I'd come home after rehearsal, so – raincheck? If you have just five minutes we can go over the major points right now.”

Elliott nods. “Sounds awesome. Let me get out of the costume and I'll meet you at the office in ten?”

“Sure,” Kurt says, and just like that suddenly finds himself alone in the hallway with Sebastian, who is smirking at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Guess you'll have to fall back on one of your other boyfriends for the night. Sorry about that.”

Kurt gapes at him. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

Sebastian huffs out a breath. “Are you even interested in him?”

“Who am I supposed to be interested in again?”

“Ha.” Sebastian laughs. “What an excellent question. Elliott? Or the short, curly one who plays piano? Or that blue-eyed dimwit who thinks he's an actor?”

“You know you're not making any sense, right?”

“Elliott is too good for you. You know that much, don't you? He doesn't deserve to be used just so you can get a job here.”

“I am certainly not the one who -” Kurt starts defending himself before realization hits him out of nowhere and he feels his eyes widen. “Oh my god. You _like_ him!”

“Who?”

“Don't play dumb now. You like Elliott.”

“He's my friend,” Sebastian points out, but he does look slightly panicked.

“Did you sabotage me because you thought I was … What exactly _did_ you think?”

Sebastian shrugs. “Don't act so innocent! You act all cute and couple-y with him and then you drag your other guys through here like it doesn't matter, I just -”

“Sebastian,” Kurt cuts him off. “Whatever you're thinking, I can guarantee you that you're wrong.”

“I'm not -”

“Elliott is my _friend_. He's not my boyfriend. He's not my -” he can't even put the other thing, the thing Sebastian assumes, into words, blushes deeply instead. “There is nothing going on between us. And even if there were, it wouldn't be any of your business. But do you honestly think I'd cheat on him with two other guys and bring them both to work with me?”

“So you are sleeping with the other guys!”

Kurt laughs out loud at the thought of doing anything with Cooper, it's the most ridiculous idea. He pushes down the thought of Blaine's face and Blaine's arms and Blaine's … everything, ignoring the little tug in the pit of his stomach. “Definitely not.”

“Then why are they _here_?”

Kurt stares at him. “Are you really that stupid or are you trying to piss me off? They are here to help me fix what _you_ broke.”

Sebastian looks dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

He can't help it, he has to laugh. This is too much. “Good god, are you kidding me right now? Cooper is here to replace my friend Rachel, after you convinced her not to perform with the kids. Who, by the way, had been really looking forward to meeting a real Broadway star!” He knows the kids love Cooper just as much as they would have loved Rachel, but he wants to hurt Sebastian right now, if he's being honest. Being a little dramatic is necessary.

Sebastian looks shocked. “She honestly pulled out of the performance?”

Kurt throws up his hands in frustration. “What did you _think_ would happen?”

“I just thought -”

“And while we're at it,” Kurt continues. “What the _hell_ did you say to her husband anyway? What could you possibly have said that not only made her go back on her promise but was also enough to end an almost seven-year friendship?”

“What?” Sebastian says, face going pale. “No, I – no. That's not – Kurt, I swear I didn't -”

“Don't tell me you didn't call her house, I know it was you.”

“It was, but -”

“I just -” he deflates a little, shrugs. “I'd just like to know why. You know? If you hate me, I get it. Well, no, I don't, not really. But that's okay. I'm used to it. But why did you have to hurt the kids?”

“I never meant to hurt anyone,” Sebastian says, shaking his head.

“Yeah, well. You did a great job with that!”

“I didn't know she would do that. I didn't – it was just a prank call,” he says stubbornly. “I swear, I didn't say anything bad, it was ridiculous, I didn't – I don't understand this.”

“Are you trying to say that my good friend canceled on me and the kids for no reason?” Kurt says. “Because you'll have to do better than that to convince me.”

“Kurt, I -” Sebastian shakes his head firmly, opening and closing his mouth as if he doesn't know what to say. “I don't understand. I don't.”

“You did everything to sabotage the kids' performance,” Kurt tells him. “And we put it all together despite your best efforts to destroy it. And now you're accusing me of cheating on someone with whom I am not even together and honestly, maybe you should care a little more about your own life instead of sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.”

Anger flashes across Sebastian's face. “You act like you're such a victim here, but you're not exactly blameless, you know?”

Kurt gasps. “And what exactly have I ever done to you?”

“You're a brat,” Sebastian says, holds up a hand to cut off his protests. “I know that's rich, coming from me. But from the minute you arrived here you started walking around like you owned the place and some of us have been here for longer, you know? Some of us didn't appreciate being brushed aside like we were not even to be taken seriously -”

“And by that you mean you.”

“Well -”

“Did you ever think,” Kurt says, “That I felt kind of the same way? Being the new kid here and immediately having to deal with your hostility -”

“What do you mean, immediately?” Sebastian stares at him. “I reached out to you!”

Kurt searches his memory, comes up empty. “When?”

Sebastian breathes, clenches his fists, shakes his head. “It doesn't matter. You had Elliott adopt you as his new pet project, always going to lunch together and working on that stupid club that just a few weeks earlier didn't need another person to help out -”

“You're jealous?” Kurt says. “That's seriously all this is? You thought I was taking Elliott from you?”

Sebastian laughs. “Don't be ridiculous. As if you could ever -”

“Have you maybe considered,” Kurt says slowly, “that a better course of action would have been to tell Elliott how you feel about him?”

“I don't -” Sebastian presses his lips together, expression hardening. “That's really none of your business.”

Kurt pinches the bridge of his nose, sighs. “Oh god, this is a mess.”

“Just don't put all of it on me,” Sebastian snaps.

Kurt shakes his head, and he just doesn't know anymore, he just doesn't know – could this have been avoided, all of it? “I have to go,” he says, waves his notepad. “But we're not done talking about this.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“No, we're _not_ ,” Kurt insists. “We both have to work here. Well. We both hopefully will continue to work here. We need to resolve this.” He doesn't know why he's saying these things, isn't at all sure that he wants to make peace with this guy. It's just – he's never seen him vulnerable before. He's never seen him human. He can't hate someone for feeling hurt. But he _can_ be really pissed off at him. He doesn't want to do anything he will regret. There is no use for stooping to his level.

“I'm fine with just ignoring you,” Sebastian says. His voice is cold, but with none of his usual bite behind the words. For the first time since Kurt has known him, he sounds insecure.

“I won't keep Elliott long,” Kurt says, giving him a pointed look before turning to go.

He has almost reached the end of the hallway when Sebastian calls after him.

“Kurt!”

He stops without turning around, waits.

“I didn't know she was going to cancel on you,” Sebastian says. “I promise. I never meant for that to happen.”

He looks back at him over his shoulder. “Then why did you do it?”

Sebastian just shrugs, looks a little helpless. “I'm sorry,” he says.

Kurt holds his gaze for another few seconds, but it doesn't seem like Sebastian is going to say anything else. He inclines his head at him, just a small nod to accept his apology. Then he walks away.

He is still unsure what any of this means. But he thinks Elliott was right. He can't just keep up this rivalry with Sebastian. They'll both get hurt. Sebastian being sorry for messing things up with Rachel doesn't fix anything now. He's aware of that. But then, he hadn't expected Sebastian to say he was sorry, and he does think that he meant it.

Which means that Kurt has no choice. He has to forgive him. He's never been able to ignore a sincere apology.


	11. Chapter 11

The night before the day of their first show, he invites Blaine over for dinner. Santana is out with Dani, and Kurt is pretty sure that there's something going on there, which is good; he's happy for her. Thanks to her absence, he has the apartment and the kitchen all to himself for once and he really wants to take advantage of it. Also, he feels he owes this to Blaine after the many times Blaine has fed him by now.

They had their final rehearsal with the kids and Cooper that afternoon, and afterward Blaine went home to meet the piano students he hadn't canceled that day. And Kurt, free from now until noon the next day when he'll have to be at the theater to start setting things up, went home too, to scrub every surface of the apartment more thoroughly than he had in weeks, take a long and luxurious hot shower, and get started on dinner for himself and Blaine.

He enjoys cooking, most of the time, even if he doesn't get to do it much anymore. Theater hours are insane for eating healthy and cooking for one is no fun anyway. Santana sometimes eats with him, but most days they don't see each other much.

Kurt is prepared for an evening of good food and good company and conversation; he is, in fact, very much looking forward to it. What he isn't prepared for, however, is for Blaine to bring him flowers when he shows up at his door.

And yet, there he is once Kurt opens the door, a big smile on his face and the most beautiful bouquet of red and yellow roses in his hands.

“Hi,” he says cheerfully, his eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile.

“Hi,” Kurt breathes, glad he's holding on to the door already – he's suddenly very much aware of the fact that he has never in his entire life seen a more beautiful sight than the man in front of him, and suddenly, it's difficult to breathe.

He quickly pushes the thought away, regains control of his face that has, no doubt, spread into a ridiculously wide grin. Blaine is his friend and he's here as his friend and that's what Kurt is going to treat him like – a friend.

“These are for you,” Blaine says, and proudly holds out the flowers to him.

Kurt doesn't know what to say, heart still hammering away too fast in his chest. “Blaine,” he says quietly, shakes his head a little as he accepts the bouquet, and he can't fight the blush off his face as he inhales the sweet scent of the roses. “I – you shouldn't have – I mean, thank you. They're beautiful.”

“You're welcome.”

“What are they for?”

“Oh, um.” Blaine lowers his face as if to hide his smile, biting his bottom lip. “I just – wanted to thank you. For everything you've done for me.”

Kurt laughs. “Says the man who single-handedly saved my show. I should be the one giving you flowers, in that case!”

Blaine shakes his head. “I'm performing my own songs at one of my favorite theaters,” he says. “My brother has a gig he is ridiculously excited about. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time, Kurt. Seriously. Thank you.”

A little embarrassed, Kurt looks away, feeling his face heat up even more. “You really don't have to thank me for that, Blaine,” he quickly assures him.

“Okay,” Blaine says, blinking up at him from under his thick, dark lashes. “In that case, you'll just have to accept the flowers as my way of telling you how amazing you are.”

“Blaine,” he says, doesn't know what else to say, he feels light-headed, a little breathless, happy. He takes his hand, squeezes it once, ready to step back and let him in.

Before he can move, though, Blaine has tugged him just that little bit closer, leaned up to press a quick, fleeting kiss to his cheek before he finally brushes past him to walk into Kurt's apartment.

He stands in the doorway for just another second, long enough to make sure he won't pass out from the sudden rush of emotions, then he slowly closes the door and joins Blaine in the living room, flowers in hand.

**

Blaine watches as Kurt puts away his flowers, bounces a little on the heels of his feet. It's a nervous habit that doesn't come out often, the bouncing; today he can't help it.

He doesn't even really know why he bought the bouquet, it's not like he'd planned it when he'd left his own place to make his way over here. But then he'd been walking the last block from the subway and he'd walked right past that cute little flower shop, his pace already slowed to enjoy the smell of fresh pie from the little bakery right next to it. And those flowers had been sitting there, red and yellow and happy, and he'd just – thought of Kurt. Immediately.

It hadn't been a conscious decision, not all the way, he just hadn't been able to walk on without buying them. 

He knows it's supposed to be a romantic gesture, at least in this context; being invited over to a guy's place to dinner and showing up with a bouquet is date behavior, not friend behavior. What makes him nervous, though, isn't the knowledge of the social convention, it's the butterflies in his stomach as he stands here; it's the knowledge deep down in his heart that he _wants_ it to be romantic. And he has no idea if Kurt is okay with that. Kurt hasn't rejected the flowers, has even smiled at him and blushed, and he looks pleased as he's filling a vase and clipping the stems and arranging them artfully.

But still Blaine has no idea if that's because of the flowers or because of what the flowers mean. Traditionally. Not in this special Thank You For The Amazing Opportunity context that Blaine has come up with as an excuse, but in the time-honored, universal way of giving them to someone you like as so much more than just a friend.

Flowers are supposed to say _I thought of you_ and _I want you to have something beautiful_ and _You are important to me_. And he wants to say all of those things to Kurt. He wants to make him smile. He wants him to be happy. He hopes that is okay.

“I hope you like quiche,” Kurt says over his shoulder, and Blaine grins.

“I love quiche.”

Kurt looks even more pleased and Blaine is so, so happy that he had that impulse to sit on that park bench two weeks ago. His life has been _awesome_ ever since that morning.

“I talked to Sebastian,” Kurt says as they're sitting down to eat, and Blaine needs a moment to understand the words, distracted by the delicious smell of the quiche and the fresh-looking salad Kurt prepared to go with it.

“What? When? On purpose?”

Kurt grins. “Yes, on purpose. How often do you talk to people accidentally?” He tilts his head at him, squints his eyes that are glittering with amusement. “Or is that a stupid question, considering how you and I met?”

“That was _so_ on purpose!” Blaine insists, then deflates a little under Kurt's look. “Okay, I kind of blurted out what I was thinking, but hey, didn't it all work out wonderfully?”

“It did,” Kurt confirms warmly, and Blaine resists the urge to dance in his chair.

“But you were telling me about Sebastian,” he reminds Kurt.

Kurt shrugs. “Well, I mean – there isn't a lot _to_ tell. But yes. I ran into him, and Elliott thought it was a good idea to leave us alone -”

“Oh no!”

“Oh yes! And things kind of – escalated?”

“Escalated how exactly?”

Kurt lifts one hand, palm-up, looks a little lost. “Well, he was being a jerk, so I gave him a piece of my mind, and he … sort of apologized?”

Blaine gapes at him. “He did what now?”

“He said he was sorry.”

“Did he mean it?”

Kurt looks skeptical, but he nods. “You know, I actually think he did. He said he didn't want Rachel to drop out of the show.”

“Then why did he do … whatever it was he did? Did you ever find out, by the way?”

Kurt shakes his head, sighs deeply. “I have _no_ idea. None at all. But he sounded actually honest, Blaine. I mean, I _believe_ him.”

“You don't sound happy about that,” Blaine points out, accepting the salad bowl as Kurt hands it to him and starts piling lettuce onto his plate.

“Because if it's true, it means I have to forgive him.”

Blaine hands the bowl back to Kurt, reaches for the wine bottle to fill both their glasses. “Why? There's no rule saying that you have to. Meant or not, he still messed up your show.”

“That's not how it works, Blaine,” Kurt says.

“That's not how what works?”

“My conscience, I guess,” Kurt says, looking suddenly unhappy. Blaine doesn't want him to look unhappy. “He said some things to me – I think I wasn't really very nice to him either. I mean, sure, he went too far, but -”

“I'm sure you didn't do anything that warranted him sabotaging your friendship with Rachel,” Blaine says.

“I think he's in love with Elliott,” Kurt says.

That makes Blaine put down the wine bottle, thinking for a second. “I don't think I understand how these things are connected.”

Kurt sighs. “He thought – it's insane. He assumed Elliott and I were sleeping together and that I was the reason he couldn't land with him or something.”

“That's insane,” Blaine says. “Have you ever given him any reason to think so?”

Kurt stares down at his hands. “Not on purpose,” he says. “I – you don't know me that well yet, but I – I'm not nice, Blaine. I -”

“Yes, you are!”

“I met him and we got off on the wrong foot because he just – he's so _condescending_ I just can't stand it, but maybe... I'm only realizing this now, but maybe he really was just trying to be helpful, those first few days. He's just not really good at that, I guess.”

“Apparently.”

“And I made up my mind about him, and I kind of assumed that he was bothering me so he must be bothering everyone, and I guess I did kind of monopolize Elliott a little bit. But – that makes me sound so horrible. I didn't keep them apart on purpose. I was happy to have made a friend and I thought – I thought -”

“That you were doing Elliott a favor?”

“That's so judgmental and such an asshole thing to do -”

“You didn't mean to -”

“It doesn't matter what I meant to do,” Kurt says. “I have to accept the fact that at least a part of it is my fault.”

“He could have talked to you,” Blaine points out. “He could have done a million things other than sabotage a charity concert.”

“Yeah, but I could have reached out to him too when I realized there was a problem. And I didn't.”

Blaine wants to take his hand and assure him that he did nothing wrong, because he just can't see it Kurt's way – how can he be responsible for someone going to such lengths to hurt him? But instead he just smiles at him. “Do you think Elliott likes him back?”

Kurt shudders and makes a face, then shrugs a little. “You know, I think he might.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“At least he doesn't hate him. He told me Sebastian was just looking for a place to fit in – I didn't listen. But coming to think of it, I've only ever heard him defend him.”

“Huh.” Blaine leans back in his chair. “I still don't know what Sebastian was hoping to gain from all this.”

“I don't think he planned that far,” Kurt says. “He's a spoiled little child who acted out his impulses and my kids had to suffer the consequences.” He meets Blaine's eyes, smiling shyly. “Even if the consequences eventually came in the shape of an insanely talented and handsome songwriter. And his brother.”

Blaine feels himself blush, smiles, rubs the back of his neck before gathering his wits enough to answer. “Are you still going to make peace with that spoiled little child?”

Kurt grimaces again, breathes out heavily. “I guess I have to try. I love that theater, and if all goes well we'll both be working there for a while.”

“I'm sure they'll want to keep you after that show!” Blaine assures him.

“Let's talk about happier things than Sebastian, okay?” Kurt asks, straightening his back a little.

“Okay. We can do that.”

“I'm glad you could come over tonight,” Kurt tells him. “I was feeling bad about always eating over at your place.”

“I'm just glad I get to spend more time with you,” Blaine blurts out, then feels his face go hot, sees the answering blush on Kurt's face.

Oh god. If they don't get better at flirting, he thinks, they'll eventually rupture some vital blood vessels.

On the other hand, he is kind of excited that the entire flirting isn't all one-sided. Maybe he wasn't completely delusional to get his hopes up after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Blaine stands backstage, breathing deeply, doing his best to calm his nerves – all the kids seem so much more relaxed than he's currently feeling. He hasn't performed in front of a crowd this big since high school. And despite all of Kurt's worries, their first show is completely sold out.

Good, Blaine thinks, smiling a little to himself. The kids worked so hard for this. They deserve it. Kurt deserves this too – Blaine knows he has sacrificed sleep and entire meals and well-deserved free time to keep all of this together. They both have, but this is still Kurt's show, Kurt's success, and Blaine hopes he's proud of everything he has accomplished. Blaine is proud of him. So proud he feels light with it; Kurt is _amazing_.

He watches him walking around backstage with fast but sure steps, the smile on his face calm and reassuring and oozing confidence as he talks to his kids, kneels down to be eye-level with them, promising them that they will be amazing.

Blaine knows Kurt isn't as relaxed as he seems, but he keeps it together for the kids, and he knows this is part of why this show will be amazing. These kids believe in themselves because Kurt told them they were amazing and they believed him. They feel important. It's a gift, Blaine thinks, this way Kurt just seems to know how to hand them responsibility without putting too much pressure on them.

It makes Blaine feel calmer too, the way Kurt has such a firm hold on everything. He feels safe under Kurt's direction and in the knowledge that Kurt is taking care of them all. He steers them with a sure yet gentle hand and Blaine knows he will never forget those moments before the show when Kurt ran the kids through a series of vocal warm-ups and Cooper stood right in the middle of it all, warming up his voice with the rest of the kids and looking so serious doing it. He fits in well with the five to seven-year old crowd, Blaine thinks with a grin.

Kurt finishes arranging the kids into neat rows on stage for the opening number and then risks a quick peek through the curtain before he walks over to Blaine who is just getting ready to take his own place at the piano.

“It's crowded,” he says. There are red spots high on his cheeks, his eyes too bright – he's finally allowing himself his own moment of pre-performance nerves.

“Sold out,” Blaine says.

“Yeah.”

“It's going to be amazing!”

Kurt laughs. “Yeah, it's – oh god.” He fans himself with one hand, pulling his shirt away from his chest with the other. “It's so warm in here. Isn't it? I'm – isn't it warm in here?”

“Are you okay?” Blaine asks.

He nods, quickly. “I'm fine. It's not like anyone has ever actually died directing a show -”

“Kurt.” Blaine can't suppress the little smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth; Kurt is so cute when he gets all flustered. “Are you nervous?”

“No!” Kurt laughs again, shakes his head. “I'm just – oh god, please don't judge me, I'm just so worried that someone will forget the words or change their minds about wanting to be an actor mid-performance or that we'll have a power blackout or the entire audience bought tickets for the wrong show and they're all gonna leave -”

Blaine has to laugh too, and Kurt lets out a long breath, his grin a little lopsided and embarrassed.

“Okay. Go ahead and judge me.”

Blaine shakes his head emphatically. “No way. You want these kids to impress everyone because that's what they deserve. You won't get any judgment from me!”

“Hah. Yeah. Just, losing it minutes before a show you're in charge of is _really_ professional and impressive, isn't it?” he says, grimacing, blushing darker. “Sorry.”

“I think it's adorable,” Blaine says, he can't help himself. Calm and collected Kurt comes to _him_ to get reassurance. It feels like such a privilege, to be trusted like this. And also, he's so cute when he blushes, Blaine's heart _hurts_ with joy just looking at him. “I think _you're_ adorable,” he adds before he can stop himself, taking Kurt's hands in his own and squeezing them lightly as if he could give him courage through the simple contact.

“Blaine,” Kurt says quietly.

He lowers his eyes, embarrassed by his sudden burst of honesty. But before he can apologize, Kurt leans in and kisses his cheek, a soft lingering kiss that makes him close his eyes, makes his skin tingle and his heart stutter.

Kurt pulls back just a few inches, their hands still tangled between them, and says in a low voice, “I'm so glad you're here.”

Blaine can feel his exhalation against his cheek and the warmth from his body so close to his and his pulse is racing, every cell in his body straining to be closer to him. And then he opens his eyes and Kurt's are right there, a beautiful green in the soft light and so, so gentle on his.

He feels his own breath shuddering out of him and he'd known all along he was falling, but now he knows there's no stopping it anymore. One word and he'll be Kurt's in a heartbeat, in whatever way he wants him.

“Glad to help,” he manages, and his own voice sounds hoarse to him, rough-edged with emotion.

Kurt smiles at him, a slow, tentative, shy smile and Blaine wants to kiss him, he's never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in his life. He wonders what Kurt's lips taste like, wonders if they'd be as soft and warm as they look.

But time keeps ticking by and Kurt gives his hands another squeeze, takes a step back, and the moment passes – hopefully to be continued, not forgotten. The way Kurt is looking at him, Blaine has hope.

Cooper takes his place behind the kids and Kurt makes his way to his spot off the side of the stage, and Blaine takes another deep breath, then quickly scurries over to his own spot and slides onto the piano bench, waiting for the curtain to part.

In the semi-darkness before the show with the stage still quiet and the hum of the audience hanging over the stillness, his hand lifts to his face, fingertips gently stroking over the spot where Kurt has kissed him. He smiles and waits for it to be time to start playing.

**

No one forgets their words. No one runs off stage. And the audience seems to love it.

He can't quite believe it, waving his kids on to take another bow with Cooper in their midst and even Blaine reluctantly pulled to the front of the stage with kids hanging off his sleeves left and right. They did it. It worked. His kids are stars!

People are clapping and cheering and getting out of their seats and Kurt feels so proud he could burst with it, instead just slaps both hands over his face and jumps up and down off to the side until kids come running for him and he hugs them and ruffles their hair and sends them back out on stage and laughs at the image of Cooper hugging Blaine with little Pavel still sitting on his shoulders and patting Blaine's hair shyly in celebration.

There is laughter and joy and people are still cheering and Kurt signals Blaine who understands, slinks back to the piano, starts in on their encore they have prepared.

Kurt joins Cooper out on stage to lead the kids in this final song and everything is so much better than he could have ever hoped for, he thinks he could fly with all the happiness he's feeling. His kids put together their own show, they're performing in front of a sold out house, and everyone loves them!

Backstage after the show, everything is well-ordered chaos with parents looking for their kids and kids dropping props and costumes everywhere, but Blaine seems to have that under control, picking up the worst of the mess and Cooper trailing after him with a box balanced on his hip. This way, Kurt is free to see to it that all of his stars get safely reunited with their families while also accepting pats on the back from Gunther and April and a warm hug from Elliott who then goes around high-fiving all the kids, telling them how amazing they were.

Kurt is happy that Elliott is here, he knows the kids love him and probably missed him a lot these past few weeks.

He shakes hands with parents, confirms their next meeting time, congratulates all of the kids over and over again.

By the time the last few families are threading their way outside, the stage looks cleaner already and Elliott is following the parents outside who wanted a word about maybe possibly signing up a few siblings once charity week is over. Kurt is kind of glad he doesn't have to deal with all of the organizational stuff by himself.

Cooper has found his way to the foyer somehow and is surrounded by various mothers and grandmothers and apparently a few very interested fathers as well.

Kurt is just busy checking over all the dressing rooms and storage closets backstage to make sure no kids have gotten lost anywhere, and he's turning the corner toward the side exit when he hears Blaine's voice call out behind him.

“Kurt!”

He stops, turns, and the smile just spreads across his face at the sight of his friend standing there waving at him, still wearing the ridiculous hat two of the kids had wrestled onto his head earlier.

“Blaine! We did it!”

Blaine jumps up and down excitedly and laughs and before Kurt understands what's happening, has bounced his way across the space between them and Kurt can't remember if he's ever been hugged quite so enthusiastically before in his life.

Blaine hugs as if it's very serious business, as if he has to hold on to every part of Kurt.

Kurt wraps his arms around Blaine's shoulders and squeezes him back, hiding his own grin in the wild mass of Blaine's curls.

Blaine smells amazing and he's so warm and so solid and compact and no, he has definitely never been hugged like this before. But he likes it. He likes it quite a lot, actually. He likes Blaine quite a lot.

“It was so amazing!” Blaine says enthusiastically and Kurt can feel his breath on his neck.

“Thanks to you,” he points out. “You were great. Not just now on that stage, but all your help with this show -”

“Kurt!” Blaine pulls back, just far enough to look at him, and he smiles, so happily. “This show was the most fun I've had in years. I'm so happy you let me contribute!”

“You saved us,” Kurt insists.

Blaine laughs and shakes his head. “This was all you. But I mean it. It was incredible.”

He's happy and feeling invincible after a great success and he has no filter. So he blurts out before he can stop himself: “You are incredible.”

Blaine laughs again and looks so pleased and hugs him tight again, pressing his face against the curve of Kurt's neck.

“Have dinner with me?” he asks.

Kurt hesitates. “I – what about your brother, we should -”

“He has a date. She was in the audience. We'd just be in the way. Besides. I'd much rather have you to myself.”

And what is he supposed to say to that? “Blaine. ...Okay. Yes. Okay. Of course.”

“Wonderful,” Blaine says and kisses his cheek.

“I have to say goodbye to Elliott.”

“I have to find my coat.”

“In my office, probably,” Kurt says. “We can go out front, come on.”

He doesn't overthink, doesn't question his impulses. He takes Blaine's hand, links their fingers together to lead him toward the exit.

There are more delays in the foyer, more parents to talk to, more audience members who have questions about getting their kids into the club too, and Kurt is grateful when Blaine sticks by his side quietly but helpfully the entire time, answering his share of questions, charming April and Gunther, playing with the kids who come up to them to say good night. Blaine is is still doing so much more than Kurt ever expected of him.

“Hey,” a voice says to his right, a voice he did not expect. Not really.

“Hey.” He looks over his shoulder, not sure what to expect.

“It was great,” Sebastian says, and smiles at him. A genuine smile, nothing fake about it. “I really enjoyed it.”

“Oh.” Kurt holds on tighter to Blaine's hand, blinks. “Um.”

“Thank you,” Blaine says, always ready, always polite.

“Yeah,” Kurt jumps in. “Thanks.”

“Your original songs were amazing,” Sebastian continues. “And you have some talented kids there.”

“I told you you'd like it,” Elliott says, suddenly showing up next to Sebastian, patting his shoulder almost affectionately.

“And you were right, as always.” Sebastian laughs. “Totally worth it, buying a ticket.”

“You -” Kurt swallows, shakes his head. “You bought a ticket? Because if you'd said something we could have -”

“I offered him free admittance as a theater employee,” Elliott interrupts. “He insisted on paying.”

“Hey, it's for charity,” Sebastian says, shrugs like it's nothing. “I didn't mind paying.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says again, and he honestly has no idea what to make of this.

Sebastian shrugs, huffs out a breath. “Oh, forget it. It's no big deal. Ready, Elliott?”

“In a minute,” Elliott says, and Kurt doesn't miss the way their hands brush between them as Elliott takes a step closer to Sebastian.

“Yeah, Blaine and I were just about to leave too,” Kurt says. “I guess I'll see you guys around tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Elliott confirms, swoops in for a quick hug. It's Starchild's first performance tomorrow. Kurt is looking forward to it. Maybe he can talk Blaine into coming with him.

“Hey,” Sebastian speaks up, looks at Kurt. “Just a second -”

“Oh, I was only -”

“No, I just ran into someone who wanted to talk to you earlier,” Sebastian says, waves at someone behind him.

Kurt feels his jaw drop open as his former nemesis takes a step aside and the crowd parts to make room for a tiny person in a huge dress who comes hurrying toward him without losing a second.

“Kurt!”

“Rachel?” He can't believe this, it's her, she's in his theater wearing high heels and a wide smile and nodding vigorously.

“Kurt, it was _amazing_. I was so impressed!”

He stares at her, feels Blaine press closer to his side offering assistance, and he doesn't know what to say. “What are you doing here?”

She closes the remaining distance between them, takes firm hold of his arms before leaning up to kiss him hello. “I received a ticket in the mail a few days ago and I just really hoped I'd still be welcome.”

“You – a ticket?”

Sebastian clears his throat. “Ah, yes -”

“It seems that there has been a slight miscommunication between certain people who are gathered here today -”

“I explained to Ms. Berry that the unfortunate incident was all my fault,” Sebastian speaks up.

Kurt shakes his head. “I still don't understand.”

“I mean, we can't blame Jesse for not being able to see through it, it's just -”

“What does Jesse have to do with this?” Kurt wants to know. “Rachel, you didn't take my calls for weeks -”

“I mean it could have ended my marriage, and when I thought you -”

“Why would I want to – Rachel, do we have to do this here?” Kurt asks, motioning for her to lower her voice. He doesn't really want this kind of drama here tonight.

“I'm just here to congratulate you on a fantastic show,” Rachel assures him. “And to apologize for ignoring your messages, yes.”

“Fine,” he says, realizing this won't just be ignored like this. “I was just going to my office to pick up a few things, would you like to come with me?”

“I'd love to,” Rachel says, threads her arm through his the way she always used to do.

“Will you be okay for a minute?” Kurt asks Blaine.

Blaine squeezes his hand, leans up to nudge his jaw with his nose. “I'll be right here. Take your time.”

“Thank you.”

“Any time!”

**

In his office he closes the door, guides Rachel over to the ratty old couch in the corner to sit down at the opposite side of her.

“Okay,” he says. “So. What did I do to you? And what made you come back?”

She shrugs, rolls her eyes, sighs heavily. “You know how much I wanted to do this show.”

“I know that you said you wanted to.”

“I did.”

“And then you stopped talking to me?”

“Jesse got a phone call.”

Kurt sighs. “Yeah, well. Not from me. And since when does your husband choose your parts for you?”

She laughs. “Kurt, don't we know each other at all?”

“That's what I've been wondering, Rachel.”

She lifts both hands in a placating gesture. “So, Jesse gets a call from someone claiming to have my best interests at heart and telling him that he's hopefully aware that he's only ever been my second choice and that I'm doing this gig for nostalgic reasons. Of the romantic variety. You know. Me having second thoughts about my lost _family_.”

“What -” Kurt gasps as he finally gets it. “Oh no.”

“So, of course -”

“Sebastian,” Kurt says. “It's his favorite pastime to tell people of my loose morals. He probably meant to convince Jesse that I was trying to sleep with you.”

“Only what Jesse heard was something quite different. Something that would actually hurt him.”

Kurt nods. “Finn.”

Rachel lowers her eyes, hands folded in her lap. “Yes, Finn. You know he'd take that very personally.”

“He – what?” Kurt shakes his head. “He thought you wanted to do this … because?”

“Out of loyalty for the family I'd always choose over him.”

“Has this been an issue between you two in the past?”

Rachel snorts. “No. We're not actually insane. He knows he's not my second choice. But -”

“But it's still difficult, competing with a dead guy,” Kurt says.

“And getting a phone call telling him that he's losing upset him a bit.”

“So he told you not to do it?”

“He would never do that,” Rachel says.

“Then what -”

“I decided I didn't want to.”

“But – why?”

“Because I couldn't believe you'd tell a random nobody about Finn, about our history, about everything we've been through together.”

“Rachel, I didn't.”

“Yes, I figured that out eventually. He chose the wrong words and he couldn't have known and it's no one's fault really. Well, not yours, at least.”

“You thought I was going around telling random people your life story?”

“I don't think there was much thinking involved. It's – a difficult topic.”

“I know,” Kurt says, because yes, he does know. It's always been difficult. Maybe it will just never stop hurting altogether.

“Whatever Sebastian said about the two of us, it must have been a lucky accident that he managed to strike a nerve with Jesse.”

“I'm sorry that little weasel ever got his dirty paws on your phone number.”

“He apologized.”

“Yeah, to me too.”

“Oh god.” Rachel laughs, reaches out one hand for him. “Kurt, what a mess!”

He laughs with her, takes her hand to let her pull him down into a hug. “Are we okay?”

She pats his back. “Of course we re okay, you idiot. I love you.”

“I love you too, Rachel,” he says. “I'm sorry anything connected to this show brought up those old memories again. I'm sorry, I -”

“You never have to apologize,” Rachel tells him. “If anyone knows what this feels like, it's you. I know that. And, Kurt, that's why I need you to forgive me. Okay? Because as silly as it is that Jesse is occasionally jealous of my relationship with Finn and his family, he is also right about one thing.”

“What's that?”

“That this bond we have is special. It doesn't make Jesse worth any less to me, but yes, I'll always love Finn and I'll always love his family, and that includes you, Kurt. I love you so much. And I can't ever lose you. Okay?”

“Okay, Rachel,” he says, and kisses her hair. “You know I feel the same way about you.”

“Very often, that's been the only thing keeping me going,” she admits, and cuddles closer against his chest.

He holds her and so his show has been amazing, his kids have been great, his job seems more secure every day, and he's about to go on a date with the cutest guy he has ever met. But having his friend back might just be the greatest thing about this day. Because he does love her a ridiculous amount. And he's missed her a lot.


	13. Chapter 13

Blaine is happy when Kurt agrees to let him pay for dinner, and he's even happier when Kurt uses the opportunity to make him promise that he'll be allowed to pay on their next date. Blaine is pretty sure that he'll agree to absolutely anything that guarantees a second date with Kurt.

They go back to their little bistro down the block where they get a cute little table in a back corner since the proprietor apparently knows and likes Kurt.

It's cozy and intimate and Blaine enjoys just sitting and watching Kurt and nudging his feet under the table with his own and … everything seems different, all of a sudden, the first show is over, it went well, incredibly so, and somehow there's a different energy between them, Blaine thinks.

Because there is no way this could be a business dinner. This is so a date. They are here together because they are interested in dating each other.

And Kurt tells him about his friend Rachel while they're waiting for their food, tells him all about the way they're connected by more than friendship, tells him about his brother who died too young and left an open wound that still sometimes makes things difficult, especially when people interfere who don't know their history, don't know what their words might do to them.

“I'm so sorry,” Blaine says, and he just wishes he could slide around the table and hug him, kiss all across his face until some of that bone-deep sadness fades away, makes room for happiness about all the good things instead.

“It was a long time ago,” Kurt says. “And Sebastian didn't know. He couldn't have known.”

“She thought you had talked to him about Finn?”

“Yeah. We don't usually share this with the world, you know? It's – it just hurts.”

“Of course it does,” Blaine says. “But that explains her intense reaction.”

“Absolutely,” Kurt confirms. “It also means that Sebastian didn't mean for her to quit. He probably just wanted to make her believe unflattering things about me. He didn't know what kind of hurt he was causing.”

“That's still not nice.”

“He apologized,” Kurt says, shrugs. “I think I believe him that he's sorry.”

“You are such a nice person,” Blaine says, and Kurt snorts.

“Have we met?”

“Don't argue,” Blaine insists, hooks their ankles together under Kurt's chair. “I like you, you know?”

Kurt blushes, which looks adorable on him. “Uh. You know. I like you too.”

Blaine reaches out to touch his hand, pleased when Kurt doesn't pull back, links their fingers instead. “I'm glad.”

**

After dinner they go back to the park where they met – it's Kurt's idea and Blaine is immediately on board. He hasn't actually been back to that bench ever since that Saturday morning he turned his head to see the most beautiful man in the world sitting next to him.

They walk close together and Kurt never lets go of his hand; Blaine thinks it's fascinating how it's possible to get so used to the specific feel of someone else's hand. They haven't done this many times so far, but already he knows the shape and warmth and softness of Kurt's hand, the smoothness of his skin, the feel of the fragile bones in his wrist when he runs his thumb up and down all of his favorite spots.

He experiments with lifting Kurt's hand to his lips and kissing the back of it. Kurt has freckles on the backs of his fingers. Blaine is in love with every single one of them.

“Our spot is empty,” Kurt says, pointing at their bench toward the end of the path. He sounds pleased about it.

“Of course it is,” Blaine says happily. “It's _our_ spot.” He thinks that maybe he'll have to write a song about this bench eventually.

“Our spot,” Kurt repeats and squeezes Blaine's fingers. “I really love the sound of that.”

Blaine hurries them along the rest of the way, sits down and tugs at Kurt's arm until he sits down next to him.

Kurt laughs softly as he cuddles into Blaine's chest, his forehead resting against the side of his neck, and Blaine wraps one arm around his waist, pulls him as close as he dares.

“By the way,” Kurt says. “Elliott's first show is tomorrow. And I wanted to know … would you like to go?”

Blaine chuckles. “Are there even still tickets available?”

Kurt lifts his head enough to meet his eyes, snorts delicately. “Blaine. I secured myself two tickets the day Elliott told me about it.”

“Oh, but,” Blaine smiles tentatively. “I mean, of course I'd love to, but … I mean, you don't have to give me your other ticket, you can take your roommate or Rachel or -”

“I don't want to go with Santana or Rachel,” Kurt interrupts. “I want to go with you.”

Blaine sucks in a breath. “Are you sure?”

That makes Kurt laugh at him. “About wanting to spend time with you? Uh, yeah!”

“Only if you're sure.”

“Wait, do you not want to go with me?” Kurt asks.

Blaine shakes his head firmly, grinning. “You have no idea how much I want to.”

“Elliott is going to be amazing,” Kurt says.

“Well, yeah,” Blaine says. “And also, it means we'll go on a second date tomorrow. Right?”

Kurt huffs out a breath, lightly punches him in the arm. “That was the idea, yes.”

“In that case,” Blaine says, can't hold back the wide happy smile. “Yes! Yes, Kurt, I'd love to!”

“I'm glad to hear it,” Kurt says, almost impatiently, and takes Blaine's face between his hands firmly. “I was hoping you'd say that.”

And then suddenly Blaine is being kissed, hard and hungry and deep and all he can do is open his mouth for Kurt, kiss back just as eagerly, and feel happier than he's felt in a long time.

**

Kurt doesn't mind at all when their date ends back at Blaine's place with some cake they pick up on the way back and the two of them sitting close to each other on Blaine's adorable little couch, legs tangled on the cushions between them and some soft music playing from Blaine's open laptop on the coffee table.

They finish their dessert quickly and then there are more cake-flavored kisses and more cuddling and eventually he finds himself with his head pillowed on Blaine's chest, Blaine's fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, Blaine's lips tracing soft kisses across his forehead.

“This is nice,” he says quietly, fingers drawing lazy patterns on the front of Blaine's soft shirt.

“It's amazing,” Blaine says, presses a long, lingering kiss to the skin underneath his eye. “But then, ever since I met you, that's sort of been the way things have been going for me.”

“You say the sweetest things,” Kurt tells him, feeling ridiculous and happy and seriously, who talks like that?

“Well, you see,” Blaine says. “I've met this amazing guy recently and I'm just so incredibly happy, I can't always keep it all inside.”

“Then don't,” Kurt says. “I'm having the same problem around you, you know?”

Blaine laughs. “Is it a problem?”

“I guess not,” Kurt says. “Just overwhelming.”

“Mmm. I agree. In a good way.”

“In the best way,” Kurt confirms.

Blaine's phone chirps on the table and he groans. “Wait let me turn that off real quick!”

Kurt lets him lean forward to pick it up off the table, watches his smile turn embarrassed as he unlocks the screen.

“What is it?”

Blaine shakes his head. “It's Cooper.”

“Oh, is he okay?”

Blaine nods. “Telling me he can't make lunch tomorrow. Apparently he has another date.”

“That's nice for him.”

“It is. He also says – oh, never mind.”

“What?”

Blaine squirms a little. “Voice message, hold on...”

Kurt waits as Blaine fiddles around with his phone, and then Cooper's voice fills the tiny space.

“ _Hey Squirt, thanks again for getting me that gig, that creepy manager even asked for my number and wouldn't stop talking to me until I left_ -”

“That would be Gunther,” Kurt whispers, hiding his face behind his hands.

“ _So I hope you're busy celebrating, you deserve it, say hi to the boyfriend from me, he's one of the good ones, little brother. And he likes you, I could tell from the way he ogled your ass all day._ ”

Kurt groans and squeezes his eyes shut, Blaine growls and fumbles his phone trying to shut off Cooper's voice.

“Uh, sorry about that.”

“He calls you Squirt?” Kurt asks, amused.

“Uh. Yeah. He always did.”

“It's cute.”

“Um, I – about the rest of the message -”

“I did not ogle your ass,”Kurt insists. “Well. Not all the time.”

“No, that's okay, I – uh, about the boyfriend part -”

“Oh. Yeah. That.”

“Well, I mean -”

“Look, I did ask you out on another date, didn't I?”

Blaine smiles at him. “You did. So …”

“So I did that for a reason.”

“You mean -”

Kurt shakes his head, fists a hand in the front of Blaine's shirt. “Shut up and kiss me, boyfriend!”

Blaine laughs, slides a hand into Kurt's hair. “Whatever you say, boyfriend!”

They end their date making out enthusiastically on Blaine's tiny couch, and Kurt likes this turn of events. A lot.

He kind of likes everything that has to do with Blaine. He doesn't think that's ever going to change.

One day, he thinks, the two of them should co-write a musical about two guys who meet on a park bench early on a Saturday. It sounds like the beginning of something very special.


End file.
